Yasunosuke Futa (Japanese: 布田保之助, b. 26 November 1801 in Yabe, Higo Province, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan - d. 1873) was a village chief and also an architect in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. He built Tsujun Bridge, which enriched previously barren land. Futa was later enshrined in Futa Shrine in 1937.
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At age 23, Futa became acting village chief by birth. At age 30, he was given money for developing new rice fields. At age 32, he became the full village chief; at that time, villages were very large. At age 34 he was given a prize because his area did not experience the nationwide famine. At the age of 52, he started to build the Tsujun Bridge. It was completed on July 29, 1854, when he was 54 years old. He remained village chief until the age of 61. In 1868, he was given a prize by Lord Hosokawa for the bridge. On April 3, 1873, he died.
Tsujun Bridge is an aqueduct in Yabe, Kumamoto, Japan. It is an arch bridge completed in 1854 and is 84m long. The arch spans 27.3m. It is the largest stone aqueduct in Japan. Because the aqueduct was lower than the upper part of the waterway by 6 meters, a reversed siphon mechanism works when water is allowed to flow through the aqueduct. The stone aqueduct was made watertight with mortar. In order to keep the aqueduct in working condition, and for viewers such as tourists, water is poured into the river once in a while.
Before construction of the Tsujun Bridge, Futa had completed a number of construction works including bridges, and already had a great reputation.
For 7 years, Futa had saved money for the construction, but he had to get the approval of his superiors. Because Futa was a village chief, he could not attend the budget conference of Higo Province, but his superiors such as Gennosuke Mano (Oometsuke) and Han-emon Kouzuma (Gundai) attended. Lord Hosokawa allowed stone technicians to study the framework of Kumamoto Castle, which was exceptional.
Futa used his own money to send teams of technicians, such as Kangoro Hashimoto and Sangoro Iwanaga, to Nagasaki and Bungo to study the construction of arch bridges.
The cost of construction was ¥150,0000,000, according to Seiki Ishii.[1] This estimate is based on the direct cost of 710 Kan; this is roughly the same as 800 Kan which was the direct cost of Lord Shigekata Hosokawa traveling with a little less than 1000 followers to Osaka for Sankin kotai (alternate attendance).
Futa was very clever in stating that he would open 42 Cho (1 Cho = 99.17 a) of rice fields; the real number of rice fields opened was 73 Cho, making a difference of 31 Cho more than he had promised. This meant that the money he could use would be very great.
Futa observed a rotten rainwater pipe which blew out water, and came to the idea of the reversed syphon system, a method of sending water to higher land. He made three waterways and a bridge to let water cross a river to higher land. The water pressure was too strong for wood, so the construction material was changed to stone. Special mortar was developed to make the waterways tight. On the day of completion, Futa stood in a spot where he would die if the bridge failed.