Sorihashi Bridge

Sorihashi, also called Taikobashi or 'drum bridge' for the shape its arch makes with its water reflection, has stood at the entrance to Sumiyoshi Taisha since around 1600. It was funded by Yododono, consort of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who sought divine favor for her son's war against Tokugawa Ieyasu. The bridge has been maintained by shipwrights since it was first built, with a tradition suggesting the original was constructed by shipbuilders. The current steel-framed cypress-board structure is about 21 meters long and rises at more than 40 degrees, steep enough that steps were not added until 1955. Nobel Prize author Kawabata Yasunari set a short story here, narrating a painful childhood memory revealed at the bridge's summit.