四條大橋

About this photo

This photograph shows Shijo Bridge on a rainy day, with many people crossing under umbrellas. It appears in Kyoto Meisho (Famous Sights of Kyoto), published in 1907 (Meiji 40). The printed title is "Kyoto Shijo Ohashi," and the English reads "The Great Bridge of Shijo."

Shijo Bridge is a busy bridge linking Gion and Shijo Kawaramachi. After a flood in 1873 washed away the wooden bridge, it was replaced the next year, 1874 (Meiji 7), with an iron bridge built on imported wrought-iron lattice girders. It was one of the first iron bridges over the Kamo River, and because tolls were charged to pay back the construction costs, it was also called Zenitoribashi, the "money-taking bridge." When this album came out, Shijo Bridge was probably still this iron bridge.

In 1913 it was replaced with a reinforced concrete arch bridge to carry the city streetcars. That bridge was in turn replaced after the Kamo River flood of 1935, and the present steel bridge was completed in 1942.

Glossary