Toyohira Bridge, Road bridge in central Sapporo, Japan
Toyohira Bridge is a girder bridge on National Route 36 (Tsukisamu-dori) crossing the Toyohira River between Chuo and Toyohira wards in Sapporo. Completed in 1966, it replaced a 1924 braced-rib tied-arch bridge and reuses that bridge's granite for its piers. It is one of Japan's Hundred Bridges and carried a 24-hour average of 63,800 vehicles in 2002.
The bridge opened in 1966 as part of Sapporo's post-war modernization efforts, which expanded the city across the Toyohira River. It played a key role in connecting previously isolated areas and enabling new residential growth.
The crossing connects neighborhoods that were previously separated, and today it is woven into the daily routines of residents traveling to work or shopping districts.
Toyohira Bridge carries National Route 36 (Tsukisamu-dori), one of Sapporo's main arteries, and averaged 63,800 vehicles per day in a 2002 count, so expect heavy traffic. The current girder bridge, finished in 1966, reuses granite from the earlier arch bridge. Sapporo's tram once ran across the bridge on the Toyohira line until the line closed in 1971.
The 1924 steel arch bridge was the second in Japan to use a braced-rib tied-arch design, after Tokyo's Yatsuyama Bridge, and the first to repeat the structure across spans. Its granite-clad piers reused stone from the earlier bridge, and the 1966 replacement deck also recycled that granite.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,466 contributors worldwide.