（日本語は後半にあります）
【English】
Hello to the Pinmapple community! Today I would like to introduce a wonderful suspension bridge in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan🗾
During the year-end and New Year's holidays, I went back to my parents' home. This "Dream Suspension Bridge" is located about an hour and a half drive from my parents' house.
The "Dream Suspension Bridge" is an 8-meter-high, 90-meter-long suspension bridge over the Oma Dam Lake. Although not a very high bridge, it is famous for its emerald green lake surface and was selected by TripAdvisor in 2012 as one of the "World's Best Walking Suspension Bridges to Cross Before You Die! It was selected by TripAdvisor as one of the "World's Best Walking Suspension Bridges to Cross Before You Die". As a local, I must cross it once (before I die)! So we went there this time.
It takes about 40 minutes to walk from the parking lot to the suspension bridge. As you walk up the gentle slope, you will see hot spring inns and souvenir shops lining both sides of the road. This is further into the mountains than my mother's family home. My mother's family home was already quite deep in the mountains, and I had never been further than that... so I was quite shocked to see inns and fashionable cafes like this.
I heard that it is quite crowded during the fall foliage season, but since it was the middle of winter this time, there were only a few people. I passed some people on the way, and I was tempted to ask them how the "Dream Suspension Bridge" was like, but I decided not to.
This is a view I took at a tunnel on the way. It was cool and a little eerie with water dripping from the ceiling.
After passing through the tunnel for a while, you will gradually see the "Sumata River" over which the suspension bridge hangs. It is emerald green, just as I had seen on the website beforehand! In order to cross the suspension bridge, we have to go down the stairs once (even though we went all the way up there...). Incidentally, this scaffolding seemed to have thin planks, and it was scary to see it dip a little under our weight every time we walked on it.
We have arrived at the entrance to the suspension bridge! This is the emerald green surface of the lake taken from the edge. The water itself is not green, but rather the "Tyndall effect" gives the lake this beautiful emerald green color. The "Tyndall effect" is a light scattering phenomenon that occurs when light is reflected by particles in the water.
The bridge is one-way and cannot be crossed back from the other side. To return to the other side of the bridge, one has to climb a long and steep staircase and go around it!
We finally made it to the top, resting in the middle of the hill. My plan was to cross the suspension bridge gracefully and enjoy the scenery... but it turned out to be a short trip with hard exercise as the main activity. We returned to the entrance of the suspension bridge and then went back down the way we came.
I heard that the contrast between the reddish mountains and the emerald green lake is very beautiful during the fall foliage season, and that there is a long, long line of people waiting to cross the bridge. Even after crossing the bridge, it would be a bit hard to climb up those steep stairs as if you were being rushed up from behind. Even if it is not the best season, I think it would be better to go there when it is empty so that you can relax and enjoy.
The parking fee is 500 yen ($3.45) regardless of the time. The parking lot is unmanned, and the fee is paid through a fee box that looks like this post box. I wondered if all the tourists were paying the fee. Of course, we paid 500 yen and left the "Dream Suspension Bridge. The bridge itself is free to cross.
Anyway, it is located deep in the mountains, so it is a bit difficult to go there by car (you have to go through a narrow mountain road where you can't pass by oncoming cars). You can go to Senzu station of Oigawa railway and take a bus from there to Sumatakyo, which may be recommended!
【Japanese】
年末年始は私の実家に帰省していました。実家から車で1時間半ほどの場所に、この「夢の吊橋」はあります。
「夢の吊橋」は大間ダム湖にかかる高さ8メートル、長さ90メートルの吊り橋です。それほど高い橋ではありませんが、エメラルドグリーンの湖面が有名で、2012年にはトリップアドバイザーが選ぶ「死ぬまでに渡りたい！？世界の徒歩吊り橋」に選ばれています。地元民としてはぜひ一度（死ぬまでに）渡っておかなくては！ということで、今回行ってまいりました。
駐車場から吊橋までは歩いて40分ほど掛かります。緩やかな坂道を登っていくと、道の両脇には温泉旅館やお土産屋さんなどが並んでいます。ここは母の実家よりさらに山奥に入ったところです。母の実家も充分すぎるほどの山奥で、私はそれより奥には行ったことがありませんでした… だから、こんな風に旅館やオシャレなカフェがあることにかなりの衝撃を受けました。
紅葉時期はかなり混むらしいですが、今回は真冬なため人の姿はまばらでした。往路で何人かとすれ違ったので、「夢の吊橋」がどんなだったか聞いてみたい衝動に駆られましたが、やめておきました😂
途中のトンネルで撮った風景です。ひんやりとしていて、天井からポタポタと水が垂れており、ちょっと不気味です。
トンネルを抜けてしばらく進むと、徐々に吊橋が掛かる「寸又川」が見えてきます。事前にホームページで見ていた通りのエメラルドグリーン！吊橋を渡るためには、一旦階段を下りなければなりません（せっかく上ったのに…）。ちなみにこの足場、板が薄いように感じられ、歩く度に体重で少し凹むのが分かって怖かったです。
吊橋の入り口に到着しました！端から撮影したエメラルドグリーンの湖面です。水が緑色なわけではなく、「チンダル現象」によってこのような美しいエメラルドグリーンになるそうです。「チンダル現象」は光が水中の微粒子に反射して生じる光の散乱現象です。
この吊橋は一方通行で、反対側から渡って戻ることはできません。反対岸まで戻るには、一旦急で長い階段を登り切って、ぐるりと迂回しなければなりませんが、この階段がとにかくキツかった！
休み休み、やっとの思いで頂上まで登り切りました。予定では優雅に吊橋を渡り、風景を楽しむつもりが… ハードな運動がメインの小旅行になってしまいました。吊橋の入り口まで戻り、その後は来た道を下っていきました。
紅葉の時期は赤く染まった山々とエメラルドグリーンの湖面のコントラストがとても綺麗だそうですが、吊橋を渡るために長い長い行列ができるそうです。吊橋を渡った後も、あの急な階段を後ろから急き立てられるようにして上るのはちょっと辛いと思います。ベストシーズンでなくても、空いている時期に行った方がのんびり楽しめて良いかもしれません！
駐車料金は時間にかかわらず500円。駐車場は無人で、このポストのような料金箱にお金を入れるしくみ。田舎ならではですよね…。皆、ちゃんと払っているのかな？ もちろん、私たちはちゃんと500円払って「夢の吊橋」を後にしました。吊橋自体は無料で渡ることができます。
とにかく山奥にあるので、車で行くのもちょっと大変です（対向車とすれ違いが出来ないほど狭い山道を通らなければならない）。大井川鐡道の千頭駅まで行き、そこから寸又峡までバスも出ているので、そちらがおススメかもしれません。