Submerged or frozen on my last two visits
I’ve visited the Nukabira and Horoka Onsen areas, where the Taushubetsu River Bridge is located, once in the summer and once in the winter. However, on both occasions, the bridge was either submerged underwater or hidden beneath the frozen lake, so I couldn’t see it at all. This year around the Obon holidays, I heard there was a chance to see the bridge poking its head just slightly above the water—creating that famous “spectacles bridge” look. So, I decided to stay overnight in Nukabira Onsen during my usual trip to Higashikawa and booked a tour to go check it out.
Lots of brown bear sightings… so a tour is a must
The main reason I booked a tour was that I knew we’d have to walk through a forest where brown bears live. In fact, at the Higashi-Daisetsu Nature Center, where the Nukabira Gensen-kyo Visitor Center is located, there’s a whiteboard with red circular stickers indicating bear sightings. The path leading to the Taushubetsu Bridge was covered in so many stickers it was practically bright red.
The tours run about four times a day, and I joined the very first one in the morning. Since there was some mud and we needed to cross a small creek, everyone borrowed rubber boots before heading out.
We drove along the highway by Lake Nukabira for a while and then turned right toward the lake. From there, we entered a forest road with a gate designed to keep people out. After driving a bit, our guide said, “There’s a brown bear.” It wasn’t huge, but sure enough, there was a bear about 20 meters ahead. It seems to have settled in this area, and they see it almost every time. The guide mentioned it’s quite dangerous because tourists sometimes wander in on foot… pretty scary stuff.
The water level is so low!
After walking through the woods from where we parked, the view suddenly opened up, and Lake Nukabira appeared before us. The guide was right—there was almost no water. Apparently, this is rare for this time of year; usually, you’d only see a landscape like this in early spring before the Golden Week holidays.
An overwhelming landscape…
And there it was—the full view of the bridge. While the partially submerged “spectacles bridge” look is probably beautiful too, I was personally so happy to see the entire structure like this.
The bridge is deteriorating quite a bit. Especially the middle section has crumbled significantly over the last few years, and they say that in another few years, we might not be able to see it as one continuous bridge anymore. Since the ownership of the bridge isn’t clearly defined, it’s difficult to preserve or repair. On the other hand, there’s a sentiment that watching it naturally crumble away is also meaningful, so they haven’t been doing any major repairs. In that sense, I felt truly lucky to be able to see the bridge in its full form.
On the bed of the dried-up Lake Nukabira, there were tree stumps scattered everywhere, creating a bit of a surreal and interesting landscape.
The view of these repeating triangular mountains was also very unique.
I wonder what kind of scenery I’ll see the next time I visit. A bridge poking out from a frozen lake, one half-submerged, or maybe even one that has collapsed in the middle and split into two. Regardless, whenever I see those versions, I’m sure I’ll look back and remember this beautiful, complete bridge.
コメント