Ichijo Modoribashi

This small bridge on the former Ichijo Oji avenue was first built in 794 when Kyoto became the capital. Its name, meaning the bridge of return, comes from a story dated to 918: the monk Jozo arrived in the city to find his father already dead and the funeral procession crossing the bridge. He prayed over the casket, the sky darkened, and his father briefly returned to life so the two could say goodbye. Funeral processions avoided the bridge afterward, but it became a recurring setting in ghost stories and classical literature. The present structure dates to 1995, modest enough that most people walk across it without a second glance.