Five Bridges of Amakusa (天草五橋 Amakusa Gokyō) are five road bridges at the south tip of Japan, linking the Kyushu mainland (Kumamoto Prefecture) and the Amakusa Islands. The bridges connect to the islands of Ooyano-jima, Nagaura-jima, Ike-jima, and Maeshima, and were completed on September 24, 1966. The Five Bridges gave hope and confidence in the development of Japan's bridge-construction technology, and changed the lives of those living at the Amakusa Islands (see survey below: Evaluation). Many tourists come to view the scenic beauty of the many islands, and the roads are called the Amakusa Pearl Line, based on the products of cultured pearls.
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The timing of the completion of these bridges was good, as the popularization of automobiles in Japanese families started around the same year, with the launch of the Nissan Sunny 1000cc series and the Toyota Corolla 1100cc series, foretelling the so-called "My Car" age. The Five Bridges started as toll roads and were expected to continue for 39 years, but the explosive motorization collected tolls much faster, and ended the payment after nine years (in 1975).
In Japanese, a bridge is known as a hashi, but when the word "hashi" is used after words, the forms "bashi" or "kyō" may be used instead, depending on the situation, sometimes interchangeably.
This bridge connects Misumi, the tip of the Uto peninsula, Kumamoto Prefecture with Maeshima island. A continuous truss bridge of pearl color, it is 502 metres long (1,647 ft), 42 metres (138 ft) above sea level, and 6.5 metres wide (21 ft).
It connects Oyano-jima and Nagaura-jima. It is a 249-by-17-metre high (817-×-56 ft high) Langer Truss bridge of pale yellow color.
This bridge connects Nagaura-jima and Ooike-jima islands. It is a rigid-frame bridge, of concrete color, measuring 361 by 15 metres high (1,184 × 49 ft high).
This is a rigid-frame bridge of concrete color, connecting Ooike-jima and Maeshima. It is 520 by 9 metres high (1,706 × 30 ft high).
This is a pipe-arch bridge, painted in red, connecting Maeshima and Matsushimachō, Aizu, Kami-Amakusa. It is 178 metres long (584 ft), 17 metres high (56 ft), and 6.5 m wide (21 ft).
The following are major events in the history of the bridges:
The road agency evaluated the construction of the Five bridges of Amakusa in 1976 (10 years later), by questionnaires. The results were: [1]