Watarase Bridge, Truss bridge in Ashikaga, Japan

Watarase Bridge is a 243.27 m long, 5.5 m wide steel through-truss bridge of six parallel-chord Warren spans over the Watarase River in central Ashikaga, on Tochigi Prefectural Route 5. Its white and gray trusses rest on dark rectangular piers set in the riverbed, with triangular sections forming a row of arches along the deck. The bridge has no sidewalk, and signs prohibit pedestrians and cyclists.

Completed in September 1934 by the Sakurada machinery works, the steel bridge cost 95,000 yen and was rushed through for a large Imperial Japanese Army exercise held in Ashikaga that November, since the old wooden bridge could not carry heavy military vehicles. It replaced a wooden crossing of 1902, rebuilt in 1917, and is regarded as the oldest surviving permanent bridge over the Watarase, though the Kogawa bridge at Ashio is older if the upper Matsuki river counts as part of the Watarase.

Locals once called it "Tekkyō" (steel bridge) and few knew the name Watarase Bridge; Chisato Moritaka's 1992 song of that name made it famous. A song monument was erected near the bridge in 2007, and pressing the button beside it plays the song. The bridge has no footpath and is closed to pedestrians and cyclists, who cross on the parallel walkway to the west.

The bridge carries Tochigi Prefectural Route 5, about 500 m west of Tobu Isesaki Line's Ashikaga Station. It has no sidewalk: walking and cycling across are prohibited, with signs posted at the ends. To watch the sunset over the river, use the separate pedestrian and bicycle bridge standing parallel on the west side.

Locals once called it simply "the iron bridge" and few knew its official name; a 1992 song by Moritaka Chisato changed that. The city then repainted the rusting steel and added night illumination, and in 2007 a song monument was placed nearby whose button plays the tune.