[The Copper Pheasant of Gochome Bridge] Non-flying wild birds lurking in the city 1

Gochome Bridge spans the Asahi River, which flows through the center of Akita City. To the west lies the Kawabata district, Akita City's entertainment and nightlife area, and to the east is the Minamidori district.
Relief sculptures made of black granite are placed at the four corners of the bridge, and one of them features a design of a copper pheasant, which is designated as the 'prefectural bird' of Akita Prefecture. It is an interesting composition depicting the bird from behind as it spreads its wings to fly, and I quite like it.

During the Edo period, this bridge over the Asahi River served as an important boundary line in the castle town of Kubota Castle, separating the samurai district (Uchimachi) from the merchant district (Machimachi).
It is also a historical site where a tragic incident occurred during the Boshin War at the end of the Edo period, when a delegation from the Sendai Domain, enraged by the Kubota Domain (Akita Domain) defecting to the new government forces, was attacked at the foot of this Gochome Bridge (near the current Kawabata Kannon).

Let's look at that incident in a little more detail. When the Kubota Domain (Akita Domain) withdrew from the Ouetsu Reppan Domei and turned to the new government side, on July 4, 1868 (Keio 4), they killed 11 members of the Sendai Domain delegation, including Matazaemon Shimo, who had come to persuade the alliance, and displayed their heads at Gochome Bridge in the Kubota castle town.
The Sendai Domain was enraged by this, and the Akita War, which also involved the Shonai Domain, began. This Gochome Bridge is truly the site that symbolizes the 'betrayal of the Akita Domain'.
Even within the Boshin War, the Kubota Domain was seen by other Tohoku domains as having betrayed the alliance to join the new government side, and because of the circumstances including the fact that they were treated coldly even after the war (the so-called three major Akita incidents), it is a historical site with a complex status even within the prefecture.

The Kannon statue on the Kawabata side (west end) of the bridge was built to console the spirits of the murdered Sendai Domain envoys. The owner of a small restaurant that used to operate there continued to offer incense for 30 years to memorialize the Sendai samurai, and when that restaurant was demolished for the bridge widening project in 2000, the Kannon statue was erected to console both the Sendai samurai and the predecessors who loved Kawabata.
The fact that the Kannon statue was erected during the bridge widening project in 2000 suggests that it is highly likely that the bridge itself, including the main pillars, was renovated or rebuilt at the time of that widening project.
If so, there is no doubt that the copper pheasant relief was also constructed around the same year, 2000. This is consistent with the historical background that the technique of carving designs into black granite was a style of civil engineering landscape development often used in the early to mid-Heisei period.

When passing through Gochome Bridge, you might look for the copper pheasant relief, or you might pass by while reflecting on the fact that it is a historical site of an incident during the Boshin War, or you might think about the Kawabata Kannon where the restaurant owner continued to offer prayers. After reading this, it will be hard to just walk past it, won't it?