タウシュベツ川橋梁
I participated in a local tour organized by NPO Higashitaisetsu Nature Guide Centre (NPO法人ひがし大雪自然ガイドセンター) on 28th February 2020, exactly 5 years ago, for an excursion to the picturesque Taushubetsu River Bridge タウシュベツ川橋梁 in Hokkaidō.
Location
Photos taken at Lake Nukabira (Nukabira Dam)
The rendezvous point was Nukabira Office of Tokachi Bus (十勝バスぬかびら営業所) where I went from JR Obihiro Station (帯広駅) by a local bus. It took 105 minutes from Obihiro.
Wearing snow shoes, the group walked to the bridge. The weather was not perfectly clear, but it was quite nice. I enjoyed the extraordinary for me in the middle of nowhere. Here're some photos taken during my excursion.
Notes
Both Taushubetsu and Nukabira are evidently of Ainu origin. However, I've been unable to locate any linguistic references.
It has been told that the bridge would collapse soon. Every year as the water level drops, the bridge appears and reveals new fracture, but it has not completely split yet.
The bridge was part of JNR Shihoro Line (国鉄士幌線) which has an intriguing history due to construction of Nukabira dam. Its terminal station Tokachi-Mitsumata Station 十勝三股駅 was once a station in a village bustling with forestry. After people left, the dead end station became legendary and attracted many railfans.
This following is the final article in a series of seven wonderful records of the JNR Shihoro Line by 熊鉄様 (https://note.com/super_yarrow959):
The following site is also highly informative with photos of JNR Shihoro Line still in service.
Taushubetsu River Bridge looks like the following when it is not covered with snow according to NPO Higashitaisetsu Nature Guide Centre:
There are so many fascinating photos of the Taushubetsu River Bridge under the shining stars. The NPO said that they occasionally found a person with a headlamp on the frozen lake in the middle of the night looking for directions. Lake Nukabira and the surrounding area is a brown bear habitat area.
・Header Image Credit:
ぬかびライフ@北海道 糠平温泉♨️ @nukabilife (Twitter or❌)
https://x.com/nukabilife/status/1882274816620986793
・The two photos of the station name signs of Tokachi-Mitsumata and Horoka (幌加) in the 2nd location map is taken from
http://blog.livedoor.jp/massi1-houmu/archives/52010992.html
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