Raingawa o Miru

Having crossed over to the reclaimed islands of Tokyo on these bridges more than a few times (one can see the bridges also in the rear windows of "inside the car moving through Tokyo" scenes of movies filmed the late 30s, 40s and 50s) I am charmed to come across this account of their Teutonic design antecedents .

The story demonstrates the weird capacity of Japan to hang on to bits and pieces of culture that have crumbled into dust in their land of origin.

I also like the "originals lost in the battles of World War II angle"--especially since these bridges are almost the only physical structures that managed to survive the March 10, 1945 firebombing (except, of course, for this neighborhood).