The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge connects Kobe city(神戶)on the mainland of Honshu( 本州)and Awaji Island( 淡路島), in Japan. It crosses the busy Akashi Strait(明石海峽).

As heard, the conceptual design of this bridge took about 40 years. Before its erection, ferries carried passengers across the Akashi Strait. From the calendar history as shown in the relevant web-site, the dangerous waterway experienced several severe storms since year 1955 and several hundred people were killed in sunken ferries due to the storms. In this regard, the public outrage requested and convinced the Japanese government to develop plans for a suspension bridge to cross the strait. 

The construction work started from 1988 and opened for traffic in 1998.

The tedious construction period with ten years fully indicated how complicated the erection work was.

The overall length of Akashi Kaikyo Bridge is 3,910m. The span between two major supporting towers( 282.m above sea level) is 1,991m, the longest suspension bridge in the world. The two towers were originally designed with 1,990m apart, but the serious Hanshin earthquake( 阪神大地震) in 1995 moved two towers farther (only the towers had been erected at that time) so that the span had to be increased by 1m after thorough evaluation of the impact by the earthquake.

Just like Japanese declared that Japan would construct “number one”  bridge in several different fields within a certain period after world war II, Akashi Kaikyo Bridge( 明石海峽大橋) is an evidence of its declaration. We really admire the execution power of Japanese government.

Maiko seashore area( 舞子濱), a famous place at which Akashi Kaikyo Bridge located, is planted with many white sand pine groves. It’s opened as a park under the management of Hyogo Prefecture(兵庫縣) in 1900.Inside this area, a Chinese wealthy merchant built Ijokoku(移情閣). This romantic building, in harmony with the surrounding pine groves, now has been considered to be the landmark of Maiko seashore and opened to the public in 1984. In order to commemorate the 10^th anniversary of the reinstatement of diplomatic relations between Japan and China, its name has been changed to Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall(孫文紀念館), in considering the father of the Chinese revolution, Mr. Sun Yat-Sen, ever stayed here during his exile in Japan.

Maiko Marine Promenade(舞子海上觀景步道) is an excursion-style promenade which is built at Kobe side of the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge at the same time during the construction of the bridge. It’s around 47m in height above the sea-level, 150m from the land, total length about 317m under the bridge. Walking on 47m platform above the sea-level is really exciting.

We have Enjoyed the journey on the marine promenade as looked over the great view of the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge and the surrounding beautiful sceneries though our arriving time as arranged by the travel guide is almost at the sunset moment .