One span of Japan's first double-track railway bridge
Meiji Village Rokugo River Iron Bridge (明治村六郷川鉄橋, Meiji-mura Rokugōgawa Tekkyō), preserved at Museum Meiji-Mura in Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture, is a wrought-iron truss span of 1877 that was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (登録有形文化財) on 17 February 2004.
When railway service began between Shimbashi and Yokohama in 1872, all 22 bridges along the route were built of timber. The widest of the crossings was the Rokugōgawa, the lower course of the Tama River between Kamata in Tokyo and Kawasaki in Kanagawa, and it was the first to be rebuilt in iron once the decision was taken to lay a second track. The new structure ran about 500 meters end to end: six wrought-iron truss girders over the channel, with flood-relief viaducts carrying the line across the flood plain on either side.
A single girder from that main bridge now stands at plot 41 of the museum's Fourth District. It spans 30 meters, stands roughly 3 meters deep, and carries a deck 7.5 meters across.
Registered as a structure that could not be recreated
A Registered Tangible Cultural Property can be listed on any of three grounds, and the Meiji Village Rokugo River Iron Bridge qualified under the third: works that would be difficult to reproduce. The reasoning is easy to follow once you know what the girder is made of. Its members are puddled wrought iron, a fibrous material worked from a paste of iron in a reverberatory furnace, and commercial production of it ceased worldwide during the twentieth century. Steel can imitate the shape but not the substance.
The design came from R. V. Boyle, a British civil engineer employed by the Meiji government, and the ironwork was made in 1875 by Hamilton's Windsor Ironworks of Liverpool. Plates recording both the fabricator and the engineer survive on the girder, which is unusual: most imported Meiji ironwork lost its identification long ago.
The span had a working life measured in decades and a second career after that. Railway records at Museum Meiji-Mura date the removal of the bridge to 1912, when the Tokaido line was widened to four tracks; the Agency for Cultural Affairs records a relocation in 1915. The girders were cut down for single-track use and re-erected over the Sakawa River on the route that later became the Gotemba line, where they remained in service until 1965. One span reached Inuyama and was rebuilt here in 1988.
That rebuilding was a restoration rather than a re-erection. The deck was widened back to its original double-track dimension, and the abutments and piers, long gone from the Rokugōgawa site, were reconstructed in stone and brick from Boyle's own published account and surviving drawings.
What to look for at the bridge
Start at deck level and look up, or rather notice that there is nothing to look up at. The Meiji Village Rokugo River Iron Bridge is a pony truss: the top chords stop short of meeting overhead, so the trains ran with open sky above them and the whole triangulated frame sits in plain view beside the track. The diagonal members lean alternately one way and then the other in the pattern of a Warren truss, without the vertical posts that a later design would have added.
The track itself repays a second look. Sleepers run lengthwise under the rails rather than across them, and the rails are double-headed, a British section rolled with an identical profile top and bottom so that a worn rail could in principle be turned over and used again. Neither feature survives on a working Japanese railway.
Look for the maker's plates on the ironwork. The Liverpool foundry's name and Boyle's are cast and fixed there, small enough that visitors walk past them without noticing.
A steam locomotive stands at plot 42, immediately beyond the bridge: the Bisai Railway No. 1, built by the Brooks Locomotive Works of the United States in 1897. The two exhibits read as a pair, imported iron of the same generation set a few steps apart.
Visiting the bridge
The Meiji Village Rokugo River Iron Bridge stands in the open air within Museum Meiji-Mura and can be seen by anyone who has paid admission to the museum. No separate ticket or reservation applies to the bridge, and there is no interior to enter.
Admission is 2,500 yen for adults, 1,500 yen for high school students, and 700 yen for elementary and junior high school students; preschool children enter free. Opening hours shift with the season: 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. from April through July and in September, October and March; 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in August; 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in November, extended to 5:00 p.m. on weekends and holidays; and 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. from December through February. Last entry is 30 minutes before closing, and the museum sets closed days on scattered weekdays through the year, so check the calendar before travelling.
Photography for personal use needs no permission. Tripods are barred inside the museum's buildings, which does not affect an open-air structure such as this one, though the usual courtesy about blocking narrow paths applies on the bridge deck.
From Meitetsu Inuyama Station, take the Gifu Bus Meiji-mura service from the east exit; the ride takes about 20 minutes. Drivers come off the Chuo Expressway at Komaki-higashi interchange, 3 kilometers away, and park at the museum lot for 1,000 yen. The bridge sits in the Fourth District at the far end of the grounds from the main gate, so allow time on foot or ride the village bus.
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Q&A
- Can visitors see the Meiji Village Rokugo River Iron Bridge, and what does it cost?
- Yes. It stands outdoors inside Museum Meiji-Mura and is covered by museum admission, which is 2,500 yen for adults, 1,500 yen for high school students and 700 yen for elementary and junior high school students. No separate charge or booking applies.
- Why is the Meiji Village Rokugo River Iron Bridge historically important?
- It is a girder from the first railway bridge in Japan built to carry a double track. The original crossing of 1877 replaced timber structures on the Shimbashi to Yokohama line and consisted of six wrought-iron truss spans; this is one of them.
- Who designed and built the Meiji Village Rokugo River Iron Bridge?
- The British engineer R. V. Boyle, then working for the Meiji government, produced the design. Hamilton's Windsor Ironworks of Liverpool fabricated the ironwork in 1875. Plates naming both survive on the girder.
- How do I reach the Meiji Village Rokugo River Iron Bridge from Nagoya?
- Take a Meitetsu train to Inuyama Station, then the Gifu Bus service to Meiji-mura from the east exit, about 20 minutes. Inside the grounds the bridge is at plot 41 in the Fourth District, at the opposite end from the main gate.
- Is the Meiji Village Rokugo River Iron Bridge in its original form?
- The girder is original 1877 ironwork, but it was narrowed for single-track use when it moved to the Sakawa River, then widened back to double-track dimensions during the 1988 rebuilding at Inuyama. The abutments and piers are reconstructions based on Boyle's writings and old drawings.
Basic Information
| Name | Meiji Village Rokugo River Iron Bridge |
|---|---|
| Location | Museum Meiji-Mura, 1 Uchiyama, Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered on 17 February 2004 |
| Quantity | 1 structure |
| Dimensions | Span 30 meters, girder depth about 3 meters, deck width 7.5 meters |
| Owner | Meiji Mura Public Interest Foundation |
| Public Access | Open air, viewable with paid admission to Museum Meiji-Mura |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Meiji Village Rokugo River Iron Bridge
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00003864
- Cultural Heritage Online: Meiji Village Rokugo River Iron Bridge
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/116744
- Museum Meiji-Mura: Rokugogawa Iron Bridge
- https://www.meijimura.com/sight/%E5%85%AD%E9%83%B7%E5%B7%9D%E9%89%84%E6%A9%8B/
- Museum Meiji-Mura: Opening Schedule
- https://www.meijimura.com/guide/open/
- Museum Meiji-Mura: Admission and Fees
- https://www.meijimura.com/guide/price/
- Museum Meiji-Mura: Access
- https://www.meijimura.com/guide/access/
- Museum Meiji-Mura: Photography in the Grounds
- https://www.meijimura.com/photography/
Last verified: 2026.09.03