Jingūbashi
{{short description|Bridge tourist attraction}}
{{Infobox bridge
| name = Jingu Bashi
| native_name = {{nobold|神宮橋}}
| native_name_lang = ja
| image = Jingubashi - rainy day - Harajuku - Jan 18 2020.jpeg
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| caption = The bridge on a rainy day, 2020
| coordinates = {{coord|35.6697|139.7023|format=dms|region:JP_type:bridge_scale:10000|display=title, inline}}
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| carries = Traffic
| crosses = Yamanote Line
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| other_name = Shrine Bridge
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| preceded =
| followed = The original bridge
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| material = Reinforced concrete
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| length = 20.4-metre
| width = 29.1-metre
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| open = 1982
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{{Nihongo |Jingūbashi| 神宮橋 |Jingūbashi}}, lit. Shrine Bridge, also known as Harajuku Bridge or Harajuku Cosplay Bridge, is a bridge that passes over the Yamanote Line between Harajuku Station and the entrance to the Meiji Shrine in Tokyo, Japan. Formerly a pedestrian bridge, it is now open to traffic. With its wide pedestrian area, it is well known as a spot for cosplayers and fashion performers, which in turn led to it becoming a tourist attraction.
History and technical specifications
Jingūbashi is a {{convert|20.4|m|adj=on}}-long, {{convert|29.1|m|adj=on}}-wide bridge made out of reinforced concrete.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sxctAQAAIAAJ | title=The East | publisher=East Publications | year=2006 | page=25}} It dates from 1982, when it replaced the original bridge that had opened in September 1920. The original bridge was one of the first reinforced concrete bridges in Japan. The current bridge inherits the design and some of the elements of the original bridge, such as the ornamental railing pillars.{{cite web | script-title=ja:13. 神宮橋 | url=http://www.geocities.jp/yamanote_bridge/06shibu/13jinguu/omote.htm | title=13. Jingu Bashi | accessdate=7 August 2017 | language=ja |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181007174818/http://www.geocities.jp/yamanote_bridge/06shibu/13jinguu/omote.htm |archive-date= Oct 7, 2018 }}
Cultural significance
The Harajuku area is known internationally as a center of Japanese youth culture and fashion.{{cite web | first1=Kaila | last1=Imada | url=https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/things-to-do/50-things-to-do-in-harajuku | title=50 Things to do in Harajuku | work=Time Out Tokyo | date=2017-07-28 | accessdate=2017-09-05}} Jingu Bridge has become one of the locality's popular landmarks. Since the 1960s, it has attracted numerous cosplayers, performers, people dressed in visual kei, lolita fashion (sometimes in gothic variations), or similar outfits, and tourists.{{cite web | first1=Ashley | last1=Haley | url=https://en.japantravel.com/tokyo/jingu-bashi/607 | title=Jingu Bashi - Harajuku Girl Hangout | work=JapanTravel | date=2011-12-14 | accessdate=2017-08-07 | language=en}}{{cite book | first1=Greg | last1=Perry | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ylhXAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA13 | title=An Other Road Into the Heartland: After Basho, Buddha, and Japan | publisher=Lulu | date=2009-02-09 | page=13 | isbn=978-0-557-04480-1}}{{cite book | first1=Yuniya | last1=Kawamura | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9UEfAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA65 | title=Fashioning Japanese Subcultures | publisher=Berg | date=2013-08-15 | pages=65–66 | language=en | isbn=9780857852151}}{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2XV6CwAAQBAJ&pg=PT31 | title=Insight Guides: Japan | publisher=Apa Publications (UK) Limited | date=2016-02-01 | pages=31 | language=en | isbn=9781780059075}}
The area was pedestrian-only and closed to motor-vehicles until 1995; the opening of the area to motor vehicles has been credited with lessening the popularity of the area. Jingu Bridge itself has become somewhat less popular in the second decade of the 21st century, with a 2017 CNN guide suggesting that "it's been noted that Harajuku Girls no longer gather in large numbers on Jingu Bridge ... these days".{{cite news | access-date=2017-08-07 | first1=Ulara | last1=Nakagawa | url=https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/tokyo-fascinating-sights/index.html | title=15 sights that make Tokyo so fascinating | work=CNN Travel | date=2017-07-12 | language=en}}
Gallery
File:Classicloli.JPG|Gothic Lolita and Aristocrat styles at Jingu Bashi in 2007
File:Visual kei 1.jpg|People dressed in visual kei style at Jingu Bashi in 2006
File:Harajuku bridge 01.jpg|Cosplayer and photographer at Jingu Bashi in 2004
File:Lolita 2007.jpg|Lolita style on display at Jingu Bashi in 2007
File:Harajuku bridge 02.jpg|Cosplayers on display at Jingu Bashi, 2004
File:Harajuku vk cosplays.jpg|Cosplayers on display at Jingu Bashi in 2005
File:Jingu Bashi historical photos - people - 2007-7-8 - 05.jpg|Several people in 2007
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{commons category-inline|Jingu Bashi}}