The first Fukuoka City senery essay entry writings
¡Ê Fukuoka City Urban Planning Bureau City Design Section : February, 1998 publication¡Ë

"Views from Muromi Bridge"


by Shunya Susuki,¡¡43 years old, Toyohama Town in west ward


The view from Muromi Bridge is interesting. There is nature of Mt. Seburi in the south. There are high-rise buildings in Seaside Momochi area in the north. People can enjoy the contrastive scenery of Fukuoka at the same time on a single spot. When I think twice, I find that nowadays, opportunities to enjoy the scenery in everyday life are decreasing. In my case, I cannot look at the outside scenery during commuting because I mainly use the subway. And I hardly look at the outside scenery, as I sit in front of the PC in the office most of the time. In such an everyday life, it is an excellent moment to see the fine view of the mountains such as Mt. Seburi after rain and the night views of the modern buildings such as Fukuoka Tower or the Sea Hawk Hotel from the Muromi Bridge.

The Toyohama town where I live used to be called ¡Èan isolated island on the land¡É. Those days, there were only two ways to reach the main street: take the steep road through Mt. Atago or detour by taking the narrow community road along Muromi River. However, thanks to the Asian Pacific Exhibition a turning point came to the¡É isolated island on land¡É. At first a bridge was built over Muromi River to link the road in front of Toyohama Town directly with Seaside Momochi. Large housing complexes were completed one after another in the neighbor reclaimed land. The road in front of Toyohama Town was expanded to become the main road at the same time. Large stores appeared in no time subsequently along the main road.

The construction of the extending highway that crossed Muromi River from the beach removed all the houses along Muromi River now. When I look from Muromi Bridge towards the north, I cannot help imaging the highway as extension of the modern scenery of Seaside Momochi. It looks as if it has swallowed up the scenery which people were familiar with, and at the same time the sources of their memories, too. When I feel the flow of time from the change of the scenes, the view from Muromi Bridge is the most impressive.

People can see the Seburi mountains from Muromi Bridge towards the south.
People can see the high-rise buildings and the highway from Muromi Bridge towards the north.

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