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There's a bridge in Japan that looks terrifyingly steep

Ejima Ohashi bridge
mstk east/Flickr
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If you suffer from Gephyrophobia — the fear of bridges — then you should probably stay away from the vertigo-inducing overpass linking the cities of Matsue and Sakaiminato in Japan's Tottori Prefecture.

The Eshima Ohashi Bridge is staggeringly tall, and looks terrifyingly steep when viewed head-on.

eshima ohashi bridge
mstk east/Flickr

Thankfully for drivers, the span isn't quite as vertical as it looks. Constructed in 2010, the bridge is nearly a mile long and has a sharp incline to allow ships to pass underneath.

One side rises with a gradient of 6.1% while the other juts up at 5.1%, but when viewed straight-on it looks like it shoots up at a scary 45 degree angle.

Eshima
mstk east/Flickr

The Eshima Ohashi is the third-largest bridge of its type in the world, and the largest rigid frame bridge in Japan.

Eshima
mstk east/Flickr

Since its construction, the bridge has become a modest tourist attraction in addition to a busy roadway, but reviews on sites like TripAdvisor say it's a bit underwhelming in person.

Still, we might consider looking into an alternate route.

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James Grebey is a reporter at INSIDER. Before coming to INSIDER, James was a staff writer at SPIN Magazine, and an editorial fellow at BuzzFeed. He is a graduate of Hamilton college, where he studied government and studio art, and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He also is a not-terrible cartoonist.