Opening of the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge

Date: April 5, 1998 • Location: Akashi, Japan

The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge (pictured), then the world's longest suspension bridge, linking Awaji Island and Kobe in Japan, opened to traffic.

The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge is a suspension bridge that links the city of Kobe on the Japanese island of Honshu and Iwaya, Awaji on Awaji Island. It is part of the Kobe-Awaji-Naruto Expressway, and crosses the busy and turbulent Akashi Strait. It was completed in 1998, and at the time, was the longest central span of any suspension bridge in the world, at 1,991 metres (6,532 ft). Currently, it is the second-longest, behind the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge in Turkey that was opened in March 2022.