160308-0020 - Nihonbashi Bridge

Streetcars and other traffic cross the Nihonbashi Bridge in Tokyo. The photographer was pointing his camera to the south.

During the Edo Period (1600-1867), Nihonbashi Bridge was the starting point of the famous Tokaido and the other 4 post roads.

The stone bridge with bronze lions and wrought-iron gas lamps on this image replaced the wooden one in 1911 (Meiji 44). It was designed by Yorinaka Tsumaki (妻木頼黄, 1859-1916).

Now hidden below an ugly highway, it is one of only two surviving Meiji-era bridges in Tokyo.