Japan has a long tradition of bridge building that stretches back to ancient times.
Perhaps the most famous ones are the soribashi bridges, which typically have an arch and are painted red.
These initially came from China in the Heian period (794-1185) and were often a key design feature of private gardens belonging to wealthy people.
Fast forwarding to modern times, Japan is still busy building new bridges across the country, which are no less spectacular than the ancient ones.
Perhaps one of the most interesting modern constructions is the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge.
The 3.9km-long (2.4 mile) suspension bridge connects Kōbe, in mainland Honshu, and Iwaya on Awaji Island, in west-central Japan.
At the time of its opening to general use in 1998, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world.
That title now belongs to the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge in Turkey, which was completed in March 2022.
The Akashi Kaikyo’s central span measures 1,991 metres long, with the end stand each coming in at 960 metres.
Built at a cost of £2.8 billion, the six-lane road bridge gets its name from the Akashi Strait over which it crosses.
The stretch of water is known for its rapid tidal current and high levels of sea traffic.
It is also located in area that is vulnerable to seismic events and severe storms blowing in from the sea.
This obviously posed significant challenges to the engineers tasked with building the bridge.
However these problems were overcome using innovations in wind-tunnel and cable fabrication technologies.
As a result, the bridge can withstand typhoons of 290kph (180mph) and earthquakes with a magnitude of up to 8.5 on the Richter scale.
The bridge has increased safe passage between the islands it connects. Previously, a ferry service had to face frequent sea storms as it travelled across the strait.
These storms were so dangerous that in 1955, two crossing ferries sank, resulting in the deaths of 168 people.
