sentences:  The first Bandai Bridge was constructed out of wood in 1886, during the Meiji Period, and was the first bridge to cross the Shinano River.Because of the inconvenience of crossing the river by boat between Niigata and former Nuttari, the heads of Niigata Nippo newspaper and Daishi Ginko bank oversaw construction to encourage trade between the two communities.The original bridge was 782 meters long, the longest bridge in Japan at the time, and 2.5 times the current length as the river has grown significantly narrower since.