神橋

About this print

This woodblock print shows Shinkyo, the Sacred Bridge, in Nikko, Tochigi. It is one sheet from Kobayashi Kiyochika's series Nihon Meisho Zue (Famous Views of Japan), published by Matsuki Heikichi from 1896 to 1897 (Meiji 29 to 30). It also survives in the form of a gajo, a bound album of pictures.

Shinkyo is a bridge belonging to Futarasan Shrine that crosses the Daiya River at the entrance to Mount Nikko. Legend says that when Shodo Shonin, who opened Mount Nikko, found his way blocked by the rapids, the deity Jinja-o released two snakes that became a bridge. Sedge (yamasuge) grew on their backs, so the bridge is also called the "Sedge Snake Bridge" (Yamasuge no Jabashi). It became a vermilion-lacquered bridge during the great rebuilding of Toshogu in 1636.

In 1902, a few years after this print came out, the bridge was swept away by a flood, but it was rebuilt in its original form in 1904. It is a national Important Cultural Property, and in 1999 it was inscribed as part of the World Heritage Site "Shrines and Temples of Nikko."

Glossary