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# Tsujun Bridge Water Discharge: Schedule, and What Changed in 2026
- URL: https://www.nipponstays.com/tsujun-bridge-water-discharge/
- Published: 2026-08-12T14:23:43.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-12T22:54:53.000Z
- Description: The discharge stops mid-May to mid-July and December to March, runs about 15 minutes at 1pm — and the paid bridge-top walk is closed for all of 2026.
- Author: Hideaki
- Tags: Kumamoto, Things to Do, #2026-08-tsujun-01

The Tsujun Bridge water discharge — a jet fired from the middle of a stone arch in Yamato, Kumamoto — runs on a narrower schedule than most guides suggest. The discharge **stops entirely from mid-May to mid-July** for irrigation and **from December through March** to prevent the stonework from freezing, so roughly half the year has none. When it does run it lasts about **15 minutes**, usually starting at 1:00 pm. One thing that changed this year: the paid walk on top of the bridge is **suspended for all of 2026** after an earthquake, though the discharge itself goes ahead and watching from the field below is free.

## What is actually happening when the water comes out

This is not a show. Tsujun Bridge is a working aqueduct, built in 1854 to carry irrigation water across a valley to the Shiraito plateau — farmland that had no water source of its own. The stone arch carries three pipes along its top, delivering water to ground higher than the bridge itself.

The discharge exists to clear them. Silt and debris settle inside the pipes, and opening the outlets flushes them out. The Japanese term is *doshabaki*, sediment ejection. That single fact explains the schedule better than any calendar: **the bridge cannot flush its pipes while the farms downstream need the water**, which is why the discharge stops through the irrigation season.

The bridge was designated a National Treasure, and it is still doing the job it was built for after more than 170 years.

## When the water actually runs

The operating year has two hard closures and a working season in between.

| Period                  | Discharge | Why                                  |
| ----------------------- | --------- | ------------------------------------ |
| April to mid-May        | Yes       | Before the irrigation season         |
| **Mid-May to mid-July** | **None**  | Water is needed for the rice paddies |
| Mid-July to November    | Yes       | The main viewing season              |
| **December to March**   | **None**  | Freezing would damage the stonework  |

Within the running months, discharge days are set in advance rather than daily — the operator publishes a calendar each January. The usual start is **1:00 pm** and it runs for about 15 minutes. On the busiest dates the operator adds a second run: in 2026 those are 29 April, 14 and 15 August, 11 October and 22 November, with discharges at **11:00 am and 1:00 pm**. One date is already blocked out — **23 August 2026**, when the channel is closed for maintenance.

Fifteen minutes is short. If you are driving in from Kumamoto or Takachiho, build the day around the 1:00 pm start rather than treating the bridge as a flexible stop.

![Water discharging from the stone arch of Tsujun Bridge over green rice paddies in Yamato, Kumamoto](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c2/d8/c2d85794-51e9-4a95-82a1-758e73652b1c/content/images/2026/08/tsujun-bridge-water-discharge.jpg)

The discharge seen from the field below — free to watch, and the angle most visitors want. Photographed August 2020.

## In 2026 you cannot walk on the bridge

This is the part that outdated guides get wrong, and it matters if you were planning to pay for the top-deck view.

An earthquake struck Kumamoto on the afternoon of **28 July 2026**. The discharge was suspended while the structure was inspected, and on **12 August 2026** the operator announced the outcome: water flow tests had passed, so **the discharge resumes** — but **access to the top of the bridge stays closed for the remainder of 2026**, because the detailed damage analysis will take longer.

What that means in practice:

- **Watching the discharge is unaffected, and free.** The viewing area is the field below the arch
- **The paid bridge-top walk is not available** at any point in 2026
- Normally that walk costs ¥500 for adults and ¥200 for school students, with permits sold at the Tsujunbashi Mieru Terrace shop on discharge days between 10:00 am and 2:30 pm, capped at 300 people — **none of which applies while the suspension is in force**

Individual discharge dates have also been cancelled since the earthquake, including 1, 2, 8, 9 and 11 August 2026\. **Check the operator's site on the morning you plan to go** rather than trusting a printed calendar.

## Why a scheduled discharge gets cancelled

Cancellations are common enough that the operator publishes the criteria. Water is held back when any of the following applies:

- Maintenance work is needed on the channel or waterway
- Drought has left too little water for agricultural use
- The waterway is damaged, or judged at risk of damage, by a disaster
- Discharging would meaningfully harm the preservation of the bridge
- Strong wind or heavy rain means the crew's safety cannot be assured

Read together, these say the same thing the schedule does: **farming and preservation come before visitors**. Plan a second thing to do in the area rather than building a long drive around fifteen minutes of water.

## Getting there, and where to stay

Yamato sits between Kumamoto city and Takachiho, which makes the bridge a natural stop on a rental-car day rather than a destination in itself. There is no rail line; the practical approach is by car, and our [guide to reaching Takachiho](https://www.nipponstays.com/how-to-get-to-takachiho/) covers the same road corridor in detail.

One parking change to know about: **the car park on the Fuda Shrine side is closed for the 2026 to 2028 financial years** while the *okoya*, the roughly 170-year-old works hut beside the bridge, undergoes its first full restoration. Use the Mieru Terrace parking instead and allow extra time on discharge days, when capacity is limited.

For an overnight, Takachiho is the closer base with real accommodation choice — see [where to stay in Takachiho](https://www.nipponstays.com/where-to-stay-in-takachiho/), or [Takachiho hotels with parking](https://www.nipponstays.com/takachiho-hotels-with-parking-rental-car/) if you are driving.

## Planning table: 2026 at a glance

| What                              | 2026 status                       | Cost                                   |
| --------------------------------- | --------------------------------- | -------------------------------------- |
| Watching the discharge from below | Running on scheduled dates        | Free                                   |
| Walking on top of the bridge      | **Closed all year**               | — (normally ¥500 adult / ¥200 student) |
| Fuda Shrine side car park         | **Closed 2026–2028**              | Use Mieru Terrace parking              |
| Discharge length                  | About 15 minutes, usually 1:00 pm | —                                      |

## What a visit looks like in practice

Counting only what the operator publishes for 2026: the discharge runs for about 15 minutes, usually from 1:00 pm, on set dates within roughly half the year — with no discharge at all from mid-May to mid-July or from December to March — and the paid bridge-top walk is closed for the whole year. Watching from below costs nothing.

Of the discharge dates on the operator's 2026 calendar, five are scheduled to run twice — at 11:00 am as well as the usual 1:00 pm — and one, 23 August, is blocked out for channel maintenance (checked August 2026).

Arrive early enough to park, and stand in the field on the downstream side. The water leaves the arch in two heavy columns and the spray drifts well beyond them; the sound arrives before you expect it. Then it stops, and the valley is quiet again.

## FAQ: Tsujun Bridge water discharge

### When does Tsujun Bridge release water?

On scheduled dates between roughly mid-July and November, and again from April to mid-May, usually starting at 1:00 pm and lasting about 15 minutes. There is no discharge from mid-May to mid-July, when the water is needed for irrigation, or from December to March, when freezing could damage the stonework.

### Can you walk on top of Tsujun Bridge in 2026?

No. Access to the top of the bridge is suspended for all of 2026 while damage from the 28 July 2026 Kumamoto earthquake is analysed. The discharge itself resumed after water flow tests passed, and watching it from the field below remains free and open.

### How much does it cost to see the Tsujun Bridge discharge?

Nothing. Viewing the discharge from the surrounding area is free. Only the walk along the top of the bridge is ticketed — normally ¥500 for adults and ¥200 for school students — and that is unavailable throughout 2026.

### Why is the discharge sometimes cancelled?

The operator holds water back for channel maintenance, drought that leaves too little agricultural water, damage or risk of damage to the waterway, anything that would harm the bridge's preservation, and weather that makes the work unsafe. Cancellations are announced on the operator's website, so check on the morning of your visit.

### Is Tsujun Bridge worth a detour from Takachiho or Kumamoto?

It works best as a stop on a driving route between the two rather than a dedicated trip, because the discharge lasts only about fifteen minutes and runs on set dates. Yamato has no railway station, so a rental car is effectively required.

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