Tsukumo Bridge used to be unique, and was painted by Katsushika Hokusai.

Tsukumo Bridge and cherry blossoms
Tsukumo Bridge and cherry blossoms along the Asuwa River

October/3/2020

Located in the central city of Fukui, Tsukumo Bridge spans the Asuwa River. I wrote about the Asuwa River once before.(The Asuwa River: a river that runs through the central part of Fukui)

In my opinion, there are four interesting points about Tsukumo Bridge(九十九橋 in Japanese).

  1. It has a more than 400-year history.
  2. Half of the bridge was made of wood, and the other half was made of stone, so it was well known in Japan.
  3. Katsushika Hokusai, a world-famous ukiyoe painter, painted it.
  4. There’s a touching legend about the bridge. (The story of hitobashira(human pillar).)

Tsukumo Bridge was built about 400 years ago by Shibata Katsuie, a military commander who laid the foundations of the city of Fukui. The bridge was a very important entrance to this castle town. The stone used to build the bridge was the Shakudani type, which is a Fukui specialty. read more