This exhibition looks at the iconic Kintaikyo, or ‘Brocade-Sash Bridge’, first built in 1673 CE over the Nishiki River in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture. A masterful example of engineering in wood, the beauty of its form is celebrated throughout Japan. It is periodically rebuilt to ensure its survival. In this way the important technological knowledge is passed down through the generations. The present bridge is the fourth.

Initially built to connect the two administrate centres of the city, its five-arch construction was employed to help combat the potentially destructive forces of the Nishiki River. The bridge’s fame grew at the beginning of the 19th century with the growing popularity of domestic tourism in Japan and it was the subject of woodblock prints by both Hokusai and Hiroshige.

This year students from Kingston University, supported by tutors Tim Gough and Takeshi Hayatsu, using sustainably sourced timber from Scotland, have recreated an elegant and robust one-third scale interpretation of one of the five arches of the bridge. The idea behind the building of this arch was to create a structure efficiently and economically, using multiple small pieces of timber. It has already been tried and tested over the Hogsmill River in Kingston and it can be found in the Embassy of Japan in London.

Suo Iwakuni Kintai-bashi by Utagawa Hiroshige; c 1853-56 CE
© The Trustees of the British Museum