Kappa Bridge

Central landmark of Kamikochi, a wooden suspension bridge spanning the clear Azusa River with views of Mt. Myojin and Mt. Oku-Hotaka framed between forested valley walls. The current bridge traces its lineage to a structure rebuilt in 1910, and it appeared in Akutagawa Ryunosuke's 1927 novella Kappa, a satirical story set in a world of mythical water creatures. In Japanese folklore, kappa are mischievous human-like beings with turtle shells and water-filled depressions on their heads. Folk wisdom says bowing to one causes the water to spill, rendering it powerless. Several local theories attempt to explain how the bridge got its unusual name.