I took this photo around half past four on a bright and sunny November afternoon in Nagasaki, Japan. The bridge in the distance is the oldest and most famous stone bridge in Japan. It was nicknamed "Spectacles Bridge" because the two arches and their reflections in the river are said to resemble a pair of glasses. The nickname stuck, and it is now the accepted name for the bridge.
Spectacles Bridge, or Meganebashi (眼鏡橋) in Japanese, was built in 1634 and rebuilt in 1638 after being destroyed by a flood, and was restored after another flood in 1982. It may be the most famous and picturesque bridge in Nagasaki, but it is just one of many bridges that span the rivers of that city. According to one source, there are 18 other stone bridges crossing the rivers of Nagasaki.
I first visited Nagasaki and Meganebashi 16 years ago when my daughter was four. I was back in Nagasaki for a couple of days as she is now a student at Nagasaki University and was performing with her Cheerleading club in the university festival. So, I made a point of passing by spectacles bridge again for old times' sake, and as it turned out, for a nice photo opportunity illustrative of the long shadows cast by memories of past times.
Cheers!
David Hurley
#InspiredFocus
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megane_Bridge
https://planetyze.com/en/japan/nagasaki/meganebashi-spectacles-bridge
[//]:# (!pinmapple 32.74717 lat 129.88011 long Spectacles Bridge (Megane Bashi) d3scr)