Asahi Bridge (Tokorozawa)

A Bridge on the Road to Japan's First Airfield

The Asahi Bridge (Tokorozawa) (旭橋) is a reinforced-concrete girder bridge over the Azuma River at Miyuki-cho, Tokorozawa City, Saitama Prefecture, rebuilt in 1930, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on August 7, 2009. It carries the "Airplane New Road" that led to Tokorozawa Airfield, Japan's first airfield (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Tokorozawa City).

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records a reinforced-concrete simple girder bridge 10 metres long and 12 metres wide, with railings, wing railings and abutments; registration number 11-0125, owned by Tokorozawa City.

The Birthplace of Japanese Aviation

According to Tokorozawa City, the city is called the birthplace of Japanese aviation because the country's first airfield opened here. On April 5, 1911, Captain Tokugawa Yoshitoshi and others made a successful first flight at Tokorozawa Airfield, which was enlarged many times afterwards.

When the airfield opened, a new road was laid from Tokorozawa Station, with a bridge where it crossed the Azuma River. At first it was an earthen bridge, but as goods and crowds of sightseers grew, it was replaced in 1930 by the present Asahi Bridge (Tokorozawa), stronger and modern in design to suit the "air capital" (Tokorozawa City).

Value as a Registered Cultural Property

The Asahi Bridge (Tokorozawa) was registered as a structure contributing to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes its geometric design and its place on the road to the former Tokorozawa Airfield.

What to Look For

The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes a skew girder bridge whose railings are decorated with a row of white-tiled arches, with dentil-like brackets along the sides of the deck.

Tokorozawa City notes that the end posts of the Asahi Bridge (Tokorozawa) are of Mannari granite with Western-style carving. Their bronze lamps, lost to wartime metal collection, were restored in 2025 for the city's 75th anniversary and now run on solar power.

Visiting

The Asahi Bridge (Tokorozawa) is at Miyuki-cho, Tokorozawa, about a 10-minute walk from the east exit of Kokukoen Station on the Seibu Shinjuku Line (Tokorozawa City).

The bridge carries a road, so watch out for traffic when viewing it (Tokorozawa City).