This stone monument celebrates the completion of the Ikuno Mine Office Carriage Road (Ikuno Kozanryo Bashamichi) – now the Silver Carriage Road (Gin no Bashamichi) – in 1876. The road connected the Ikuno mine of northern Hyogo to the Shikamatsu Loading Wharf (now part of Himeji Port). It took Asakura Moriaki (1843–1925), a member of the 1865 Satsuma delegation, and French engineer Léon Sisley (1847–1878) three years to complete. One challenging aspect was the bridges—more than twenty for a forty-nine49-kilometer road. Of these, most difficult was the Yabutabashi Bridge, renamed the Ikunobashi Bridge when construction was finished. This monument was erected nearby to commemorate the greatest hurdle of the new road’s completion.
Cultural Property Data:
Spot Name | “Bashamichi Shuchiku” Monument (Monument for the Renovation of the Horse-Drawn Carriageway) |
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Designation | |
Address | Tohori, Himeji City |