Consequently its height is very low but since it was set up at the boat-landing in front of the Shoiken, it possessed sufficient utility to light up the footing when a boat arrived or left. The rationality of this kind of drastic design can be regarded as actual manifestation of the basic thought underlying Katsura Rikyu's garden concept. This stone lantern is located on the opposite bank of Shoiken. Among the many stone lanterns in the garden, it is considered the most splendid . There are three kinds of bridges at Katsura Rikyu - bridges made of stone, of wood, and of earth.
Emphasis is placed on the scenic phase of stone bridges.
But the practical phase of the stone bridge across the mouth of the Ohi River is to extend the garden path across the water surface. Moreover, since it forms a thick straight line at a relatively high spot, when seen from the opposite shore it links the standing stones at the right with the terminal stones at the left end of the bridge. A preeminent effect is achieved by providing outstanding coherence with nearby rock arrangements. There is another wooden bridge here, and both have a different feeling from that of earthen and stone bridges. The worked stone bridge on the east side of the Shokintei has a length of about 5.96 meters, width of about 0.70 meters and thickness of about 0.36 meters.