The secret of the Kintai-kyo bridge

In the old Japan, many arts and crafts were passed down from father to son and master to apprentice. One of these crafts was the bridge building.

The craftsmen who have built and renovated the Kintai-kyo bridge for hundreds of years, the carpenters of the Iwakuni Domain, passed from generation to generation the bridge architectural plans and the secrets of the woodworking. Today, we know that this amazing bridge is made of three different kinds of wood: pine, Japanese cypress, and Zelkova tree, all combined in such a way that the structure is flexible, resistant, and as light as possible.