roads

A loaded cargo bicycle parked at a bridge over an earthen canal with trees and dried grass on the banks. A sign on a guardrail behind the bike is partly obscured by black spray paint over the school name, but seems to read “Miyoshi North District County Elementary School/Gathering Point/Departure Time 7:40” (三好町立北部小学校・集合場所・出発時間７時４０分). Not sure what the reason for the splotch of black paint is, but the sign must be at least 13 years old, since Miyoshi County became Miyoshi City in 2010.

A loaded cargo bike is parked on a paved path lying alongside a busy two-lane road with trucks moving in both directions. A guard rail separates the path from the road, but scarcely noticeable is an opening to enter a narrower path on the road side of the guard rail, separated from traffic by a low concrete curb.

A narrow path with a guard rail to the left and a low concrete curb to the right lies next to a trafficked road stretching upward toward a bridge crossing. A sign indicates this is Route 134, and a yellow sign below tersely marks this as “walking path” 歩行

The path shown in the companion photos, beyond the bridge crossing. Tall weeds grow here and there through cracks in the pavement.

A cargo bicycle parked at water’s edge, with a Japanese shrine gate (“torii”) in the background, and a freeway overpass beyond that.

A narrow paved walkway lying to the left of two lanes of traffic stretches into the distance. To the right of the carriageway stand a series of boxes, each two stories in height, which are (I think) control towers for equipment used to control the flow of water across the dam below.

A country road, straight as far as the eye can see.

A bicycle parked at the end of a dirt road overgrown with weeds.