Umaya-bashi Bridge

This bridge on the Sumida River, between Kuramae and Komagata Bridges, carries traffic from Kasuga-dori Street. The bridge is called Umaya (horse stable) because during the Edo period, the area had a stable for horses that transported rice to the government. The original bridge was built in 1874 and relocated several times. Before that, boats were often used in spring for cherry-blossom viewing, and some would capsize; the locals therefore donated money to build a bridge. The present structure was built in 1929 after the Great Kanto Earthquake. Some 151.4 meters long and bearing a glass ornament of a horse on its main pier, it is the only three-arch bridge with through composite girders on the Sumida. In summer, banks between the Umaya and Komagata Bridges become filled with onlookers during the Sumida-gawa Fireworks Festival. A four-minute walk from Kuramae Station on the Toei Oedo Line.