A brick sluice gate with a triple-arch structure in Matsudo City. It was built in Meiji 31 to prevent backflow from the Edogawa River. Today it has finished that role and is used as a road bridge for Prefectural Route 5, the Matsudo-Noda Line, crossing the Sakagawa River. The Koyama Sluice Gate is a British-style arched brick bridge, and apparently it's the oldest surviving brick bridge in Chiba Prefecture. It has a serene presence that conveys the air of the good old days to the present, and it's full of charm and quite nice.

Triple-arch structure Brick sluice gate Built in Meiji 31. The oldest surviving brick sluice gate in Chiba Prefecture. So after the Yanagihara Sluice, I moved on here. It's currently used as a road bridge on Chiba Prefectural Route 5, so if you didn't know, you might just pass over it as an ordinary bridge. From the right bank on the downstream side you can get right up close and view the brick structure itself at close range. This one also has a stylish design, and I imagine it was considered quite modern and fancy for its time. It's thoroughly practical while also looking impressive with real presence, which is wonderful. Yet it doesn't assert itself too much, and the way it now quietly devotes itself to being an unsung hero is, I think, exactly how a civil engineering structure should be. Even with the passage of time, its presence, far from fading, will surely keep being talked about for a long time to come. I hope it continues to be carefully maintained.

Its name came up as a sightseeing spot, so I went to see it. I felt it would have been even more worth seeing if the surrounding grass had been neatly kept. "A historic town with a clean river flowing through it" has now been added to my image of Matsudo.

The Sakagawa River used to have terrible water pollution. Thanks to the efforts of the citizens' association, it has improved to the point where you can take walks along it. Now you can even enjoy Kawazu cherry and Somei Yoshino blossoms.

A brick structure I discovered while walking along the river. I've crossed this bridge many times by car and motorbike, but I had no idea whatsoever that it looked like this from the side.