Tamate Bridge

Tamate Bridge: A Five-Span Suspension Bridge Over the Ishikawa

Tamate Bridge (玉手橋, Tamate-bashi) is a suspension bridge of 1928 spanning the Ishikawa River between Ishikawa-cho and Tamate-cho in Kashiwara City and Domyoji in Fujiidera City, Osaka Prefecture, entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2001.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as a five-span suspension bridge with reinforced concrete towers and steel truss stiffening girders, 151 metres long and 3.3 metres wide. It belongs to Kashiwara City.

Kashiwara City says the Osaka Railway, a predecessor of today's Kintetsu Minami-Osaka Line, built the bridge across the Ishikawa when it laid out a route from Domyoji Station to the Tamateyama amusement park. It is dated to 1928, though some say 1929.

Why It Was Registered

Tamate Bridge is registration number 27-0143, listed under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency notes its Howe truss stiffening girders, reinforced concrete substructure, open-spandrel arches linking neighbouring towers, and battlements on the tower tops that double as cable anchorages, and calls it a well-loved local landmark.

Kashiwara City describes four pairs of white towers evoking a medieval European castle, designed with the park entrance in mind, set off by red railings. It also says that, carried by the two banks and four towers over five spans, it is the suspension bridge with the most spans in Japan.

The bridge was transferred from Kintetsu in 1953. The Tamateyama amusement park closed in 1998, but the bridge is still used by local people commuting to work and school.

What to Look For

From the riverbank, the four pairs of white towers of Tamate Bridge march across the water at even intervals. The arches linking them and the battlemented tops give the bridge the look of a castle gate.

Walk across and look at the red railings and the truss girders underfoot. A bridge built for day-trippers bound for an amusement park has become an everyday crossing, and that change is part of its story.

Visiting Tamate Bridge

Tamate Bridge is open to pedestrians and free to visit. It is an everyday route, so keep clear of other users when you stop to look.

Kashiwara City notes that the bridge was built on the route from Kintetsu Domyoji Station to the former amusement park. Enquiries go to the Kashiwara City cultural properties section on 072-976-3430.