Tokyo Japan's Bridges: Shuto Expressway across the Sumida River

June 2011 (35.691 Degrees, 139.789 Degrees) Shuto Expressway

After crossing the Sumida River just before the Kiyosu Bridge, the Metropolitan (or Shuto) Expressway follows the west bank of the river for over mile before crossing back to the east bank.

Some photographers make this expressway seem beautiful and alive, especially after dark. Part of it is due to the cult of the street racers who enjoy driving this expressway in custom cars capable of going over 300km/hr. I'm afraid this photo hardly does justice to the adrenaline rush that this expressway can generate. One particular photographer who's work I enjoy is Takahiro Yamamoto who makes this bridge into a work of art.

Note the oddly-shaped piers that support two or three separate connector ramps. In the hands of photographers like Yamamoto, these piers become high-tech wonders.

Tokyo Japan's Bridges: Shuto Expressway across the Sumida River by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.