Guinness Book!

While waiting for some paperwork at City Hall in Shizuoka, I perused an area guidebook and read some tidbits of prefectural pride that I already knew: Shizuoka is famous for green tea, wasabi, melon, eel, oranges, and the list goes on. The most surprising fact, however, was that Shimada, just a half-hour train ride west of Shizuoka, is home to the World's Longest Wooden Bridge! We planned a trip.

I started work the week before our visit to the bridge, and had to get suited up and go bow to and drink green tea with all sorts of people at the Fujieda Board of Education. When the superintendent mentioned commuting to work in Fujieda from Shimada, I told him I was going to see the World's Longest Wooden Bridge, and he got so very excited. "Guinness Book, Guinness Book!" he nodded, beaming. The Horai Bridge (Horaibashi) spans the Oi River's very wide basin. I say "basin" because for most of the distance, the bridge crosses dry land. The vast majority of rivers in Japan are dammed for water use and electricity generation.

Guinness Book stats: This bridge is 897.4 meters long and 2.4 meters wide, and now primarily a tourist attraction, though it was formerly a well-used agricultural route. The toll is 100 yen round-trip per person...an extra 100 yen for bringing a bike. And dogs are allowed!

This bridge was so long, we had to stop for a snack:

Tatyana points out how easily we could plummet to our deaths. This was probably the most unsafe place I'd seen here in Japan, the land of a zillion warning signs and safety net overuse. The railing was only about 1.5 feet high and would be way more likely to trip someone than keep him/her from tumbling over the edge.

The crew: Jackson, Tatyana, Jess, and Davin.Nearing the opposite bank, we heard music in the trees...

Long indeed.

The music, which was a strange Russian-Japanese blend (no vocals, just whirling harmonies, possibly balalaikas), was coming from huge speakers on this rickety stage by the bank. One man sat in a torn-out automobile seat, music blaring right next to him, gazing out over the river. The scene was completely surreal.

We could not have asked for a more beautiful day to visit this lovely record-breaking landmark.