Saya Bridge

What Is the Saya Bridge?

The Saya Bridge (鞘橋, Sayabashi) is a roofed wooden arched bridge of 1869 over the Kanakura River in the old pilgrim town of Kotohira, Kotohira Town, Kagawa Prefecture, and it became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on April 21, 1998.

It is 23.6 meters long and 4.5 meters wide, with a copper-sheeted roof ending in cusped Noki-karahafu gables. The curved profile reminded people of a sword scabbard (saya), hence the name, and because no piers stand in the river it seems to float on the water, earning it the nickname Ukihashi, the "floating bridge". It belongs to Kotohira Shrine and stands beside the shrine's festival ground (otabisho).

According to the Kagawa Prefecture Tourism Association, the first Saya Bridge was built in 1624 by Yūgen, the Buddhist superior of Konpira Daigongen, at the site of today's Ichi-no-hashi, on the main pilgrim road. Repeatedly damaged and rebuilt, it was remodeled in the Tenmei era (1780s) and took its present form in 1869, a rebuilding said to have been paid for by a devotional association from Awa, across the mountains in present-day Tokushima.

Why the Saya Bridge Is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property

The Saya Bridge was registered as a structure that contributes to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency for Cultural Affairs explains that the 1869 rebuilding introduced a form that uses no girders: timbers are built out from both banks toward the middle of the span. That structure is what makes a roofed, arched bridge like this possible.

The bridge was moved to its current site in 1905. The prefectural tourism association notes that anyone could once walk across it, but general traffic was banned in 1922. Since then it has been used only for Kotohira Shrine's rites, and the Agency describes it as a sacred bridge (shinkyō) much loved locally. Once a crossing on the pilgrims' road, it is now one of the stages of the shrine's festivals in the middle of town.

What to Look For at the Saya Bridge

Stand on the riverbank and take in the whole line of the Saya Bridge: the cusped gables rising at each end of the roof and the gentle arch of the deck between them. Look underneath and you will see that nothing supports it from the riverbed, which is where the "floating bridge" name comes from.

The bridge comes into its own during Kotohira Shrine's grand festival. On the night of October 10, the portable shrine is carried about 2 kilometers down from the Main Shrine to the festival ground beside the bridge, and rites continue there on October 11. Priests and shrine maidens crossing the bridge in procession are the moment this normally closed bridge fulfils its purpose.

Visiting the Saya Bridge

The Saya Bridge serves the shrine's rites only, and no one except priests and shrine maidens on festival duty may cross it. You can see it from the streets along the Kanakura River at no charge.

The bridge is in the town, about 1 kilometer from the shrine grounds, so there are no stairs to climb. It is within walking distance of the town center around Kotoden-Kotohira and JR Kotohira stations, and there is a paid municipal car park nearby. Hours and directions for the shrine as a whole are on the Kotohira Shrine page.