The vines for the Iya-no-Kazurabashi Bridge are replaced by local craftsmen every 3 years, using about 6 tons of fresh vines that are taken from the surrounding mountains. This winter will be the next repair period, which means the bridge will be closed for about six weeks from January 9, 2024 until February 15.

During this time visitors will not be able to cross the bridge, but you can go to watch the re-construction from the adjacent vehicle bridge a bit further down the river as well as from the exit side of the bridge near Biwa Waterfall. On either end of the bridge the workers burn away the old vines while the also steaming the new vines in order to make them soft enough to twist into place.

Alternately, if you are not planning to visit Iya during this time but you are still curious to see the repair progress, you can instead see a free Live Camera of the Kazurabashi and follow the re-construction for yourself !! The button link below is for the government website that hosts the video but it may look black if checking at night (please note that daylight hours during winter in Japan would be about 10PM to 8AM GMT London, or about 5:00PM to 3:00AM EST New York):

Also note that the Oku-Iya Niju Kazurabashi (Double Vine Bridges) are not open in the winter from December 1 to March 31. For a full list of winter season closures, please check here: