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The story
The 41 suspension bridges in Totsukawa Village, Nara Prefecture — including the famous “Tanize Suspension Bridge” — are at risk of damage from motorcycles riding across them. Because these bridges are classified as village roads or forest roads rather than pedestrian-only paths, the village has no legal authority to ban motorcycle traffic, and can only urge riders to comply through “no motorcycles” signs. Understaffing has also stalled the surveys and paperwork needed to reclassify the bridges as pedestrian-only. On 5ch, users debated where barriers should be placed and how effective they’d actually be, compared the bikers to “train photographers” who are notorious for their own manners problems, and discussed motorcyclists’ etiquette in general.
Published 8/29 (Sat) 11:00
Yomiuri Shimbun Online
In Totsukawa Village, Nara Prefecture, there have been sightings and social media posts of people riding motorcycles across suspension bridges such as the famous tourist spot “Tanize Suspension Bridge.” Citing the risk of the bridges collapsing, the village has put up “no motorcycles” signs to warn visitors. However, all 41 suspension bridges in the village are classified as village roads or forest roads, not the pedestrian-only paths that would let authorities legally ban motorcycle traffic. Because the village lacks the staff to compile the paperwork and conduct the surveys needed to reclassify them as pedestrian-only, it has no choice but to rely on tourists’ manners, and is strongly urging riders to refrain. (Keigo Hori)
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Personally I'd say bikers. Even when they put up steel barriers on forest roads owned by property associations, off-road riders just tear them down or smash through to get in.
Off-roaders think that even if there's a barrier blocking the way, as long as they shove it aside they're fine to pass. I bet even at this bridge, the "no motorcycles" sign had been turned sideways out of the way.
Personally I'd say train photographers. They've cut down a tree a deceased homeowner had raised on private property just because it was "in the way," and pulled up stakes on railway property because they blocked the shot.
I'm from Nara and honestly that's true — this area feels like the "real" Nara. They've been paying taxes since the Nara period under the old so-yo-cho system (rice, labor, and goods levies), it's a genuinely strange place. The deer and the Great Buddha are basically theme-park stuff by comparison.
Rainbow Bridge and Akashi Kaikyo Bridge are suspension bridges too, you know?
Re: #12
They should just put a post up in a good spot. There's no way locals are actually crossing on their mopeds, right?
Just an entrance barrier is too soft. They should block motorcycles right in the middle of the bridge — riders wouldn't even be able to do a U-turn there.
From experience, this works well. It should stop the show-off riders who can only gun the throttle, and the delinquents with no real physical skill.
But locals ride mopeds across it too, you know.
Even without a sign saying it's banned, anyone with common sense wouldn't cross it.
I could imagine some local grandma casually riding across on her Honda Cub, though it's probably not actually happening. The submersible bridges on the Shimanto River are wide enough for one car, but those are made of concrete.
This bridge was scarier than Tanize in a different way — I turned back halfway across.
But can Inspector Totsugawa and Kame-san, who work for the Metropolitan Police, actually operate on Nara Prefectural Police turf?
The whole point of the Totsugawa squad is that they travel all over Japan trampling on other jurisdictions' turf.
Lame. Is this a joke only old folks would get?
From an outsider's view, both look lame though.
If the bike's quiet and you rev the engine carefully when you ride, you're in a different category from those idiots.
Tacoma Narrows Bridge (´・ω・｀) (the famous 1940 bridge collapse)
Then just designate it as pedestrian-only, done.
End of story.
Maybe actually read the source article?
That's the only thing you could possibly think, huh.
I might have actually ridden across this one. Same bridge maybe? It was on a forest road.
No way, who'd be that reckless — there are holes in it!
Of course it's scary. First I walked across to check how sturdy it was, jumped on it a bit, and thought "okay, this should be fine." Curiosity always wins out over fear for me. Guys like me are gonna end up dead.
There's another bridge where the planks have rotted away and basically only the cables are left — I tried to find a photo of it but couldn't. I love the deep mountains of Nara.
An electric car definitely couldn't.
Come to think of it, back where my parents live there's a decent-sized truss bridge with a 2-ton weight limit. A small route bus used to run across it back in the day…
https://maps.app.goo.gl/TyYFwKGbwuR3sibN6
What a move lol.
They'll just push the bike through that one spot.
https://kintsuri.main.jp/5/233_tsukushi1.jpg
Background and points of debate
If the bridges were designated as pedestrian-only paths, motorcycle traffic could be legally banned under the Road Traffic Act — but that designation requires traffic surveys and paperwork, a heavy administrative burden for an understaffed mountain village. Some on the thread said “just designate them already,” but that overlooks the article’s point that the village lacks the staff and documentation to do so. Opinions were also split on whether barriers would be more effective at the entrance or in the middle of the bridge, and while bikers took the brunt of the criticism, commenters also drew comparisons to “train photographers,” who face similar complaints about manners. Both cases share the same structure — no formal regulation, everything left to users’ sense of decency — so it’s worth noting this isn’t simply a problem unique to motorcyclists.
※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Newsplus) thread “[Nara] Totsukawa Village suspension bridges at risk of collapse from tourists riding motorcycles across them… police unable to enforce since they aren’t pedestrian-only paths.”
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