OT: Japanese Roads - And Other Interesting Places.

Kuroneko · **Posted:** Sat Oct 15, 2011 12:57 am

Not sure how many contributions there will be, but I will drag out a few already made (if I can find them), to answer a question from Cesariojpn in another thread. Plus, it gives me another excuse to post my otherwise destination-less photographs. First we have the Spiral Bridge on 414, the Shimoda Highway on Izu:

Built we assume in place of the usual mountain-side switch backs, merely to gain / lose height down the central Izu road out of the mountains. A bit scary as you pass well out into space on the two full circuits. We guess it dates from sometime in the 1980s when spending money on domestic projects (to the value of the US defense budget) was a government objective here. Neko.

Kuroneko · **Posted:** Sat Oct 15, 2011 1:15 am

Road 246 from the Palace out to Shibuya. My daily commute.

The second one is the same strip, 100m closer to the Palace:

From above:

and below:

tj75gc · **Posted:** Sat Oct 15, 2011 2:52 am

Hey Neko, while we're off topic, do you get into much Haikyo? a lot of your outdoor photography reminds me of a few Haikyo blogs I've flicked though in the past. Some pretty interesting reading and some cool photography comes out of it too.

For those of you who have no idea what I'm blabbering about check this
http://www.michaeljohngrist.com/ruins-gallery/

There's more but that's my fav.

matsuda9 · **Posted:** Sat Oct 15, 2011 3:08 pm

spiral bridges are cool - didn't realize how popular they are untill started looking up on the Kawazu Loop Bridge from this thread

BTW here is some more info on it: Built in 1981, the kawazu loop bridge is possibly the only double loop bridge in the world. At 45 meters high, 1.1 km long and with a diameter of 80 metres this apparently earthquake-proof construction is something of a tourist attraction in kawazu, japan. (From: http://loveofmachines.blogspot.com/2009 ... ridge.html)

here is a video of driving on it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRxgFrJdZa0

there are some more in china:
Nanpu bridge China:

http://img.xcitefun.net/users/2010/08/2 ... idge-1.jpg
http://img.xcitefun.net/users/2010/08/2 ... idge-2.jpg
http://img.xcitefun.net/users/2010/08/2 ... idge-3.jpg
from here: http://forum.xcitefun.net/nanpu-bridge- ... 53712.html and http://www.china-tour.cn/China-Pictures ... Bridge.htm

and another in Chongqing China:

from here: http://smashinghub.com/breathtaking-vis ... raphic.htm

i'll shut up now... just found these things amazing

Kuroneko · **Posted:** Sat Oct 15, 2011 8:23 pm

tj75gc wrote:

Hey Neko, while we're off topic, do you get into much Haikyo?

Hai! Seeing as you asked; most of the stuff I post here is simply the journey-with-camera to haikyo. The start and end of the roll. The reason some of my stuff looks familiar is it is both often 'borrowed' for other sites, and used in magazines, TV, and video game rendering etc. The site you quote for example regurgitates other's work. Among many others from Gunkanjima, G-Cans, here's Gulliver's Kingdom from 'Mark' magazine:

Also often used:

Back to the roads...

matsuda9 wrote:

i'll shut up now... just found these things amazing

Then you'll wet your pants for the Shuto's new Ohashi Loop then:

It is used to vertically connect an elevated section to an underground section in the space of one city block. Just down the street from me, I drove it a short time ago for the fun of it, and though I was going to toss my cookies. Not forgetting the western approach to the Rainbow Bridge too, but that's only one level each way:

Neko.

matsuda9 · **Posted:** Mon Oct 17, 2011 1:35 am

that is some interesting stuff. cable cars i have never seen, but the battle ship island is damn cool

i've noticed that there are a lot of abandoned parks in japan. makes it easy to find yourself "urban exploring"

this stuff is amazing, the engineering thought.... you don't usually get these sort of things anywhere else other then asia.... they must cost a bomb

e-at_me · **Posted:** Mon Oct 17, 2011 6:26 am

wow. thanks Neko for the photos! keep 'em comin!

gotzoom? · **Posted:** Mon Oct 17, 2011 11:40 am

Nagasaki's version of the Golden Gate Bridge. Sorry for the glare on some of these. They were taken from inside a boat.

The only road on to one of the islands outside of Nagasaki harbor. This is also the only link for fresh water and electricity for the island.

My version of the famous Gunkanjima shot (glare included.)

And a couple from on the island.

If you're thinking about going to Gunkanjima, you should probably go soon. Most of the foundation of the buildings are gravel or sand and they are rapidly eroding into the sea. The Japanese government does not protect man-made structures such as the island, so unless something changes, it will disappear. A couple interesting trivia facts about the island. At it's peak, it was the most densely populated place with over 5000 brave souls living on the island, most of whom were coal miners. Mitsubishi paid the workers well, so it was a very desirable job to work there. At the time the mine was active, about 10% of Japanese households had television. 99% of people had a television on Gunkanjima.

I also had the rare opportunity to see the oldest reusable machine in Japan. It was built to launch boats and pull them out of the water. Prior to this point, all machines were all purpose built and not reused.

And a couple more shots of Nagasaki, just because it's such a cool city.

Kuroneko · **Posted:** Wed Oct 19, 2011 6:14 am

gotzoom? wrote:

At the time the mine was active, about 10% of Japanese households had television. 99% of people had a television on Gunkanjima.

Some are still there...

Back to the roads though. This one out of Karuizawa is a treat:

Famous for this reason:

The Usui Megane Bridge.

The area is full of other railway bridges & tunnels, all made redundant when the new line opened. More info here: http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9117.

While it was a great blast in an R8, I kinda wish I was in one of these instead... Neko.

matsuda9 · **Posted:** Wed Oct 19, 2011 12:22 pm

i was going to suggest Initial D (road) trip and here its

gotzoom? · **Posted:** Wed Oct 19, 2011 4:54 pm

Staying with the Initial D theme...

Scroll to the middle of the page and click the play button on the video.
http://www.gizmodo.jp/2009/09/post_6070.html

Kuroneko, sorry for taking your thread off on a tangent again :lol:

matsuda9 · **Posted:** Thu Oct 20, 2011 1:35 am

uummm.....yeah.... i don't know what it is that i just watched.... uuummm

through out the vid i was going "the f#$k is this, the f#$k is that....the f#$k is YOU?!?!?!"

:lol:

Kuroneko · **Posted:** Wed Oct 26, 2011 2:53 am

gotzoom? wrote:

Kuroneko, sorry for taking your thread off on a tangent again :lol:

NP! When they came into the first corner, and put the tail out in a perfectly controlled drift, I laughed out loud.

More roads to follow... Neko.

Kuroneko · **Posted:** Mon Oct 31, 2011 2:26 am

Even the road signs for the Ohashi loop inspire...

Kuroneko · **Posted:** Fri Nov 04, 2011 6:43 am

Saikai Highway in Saitama has another curious bridge spanning an entire valley, it goes nowhere except up.

With nothing on the south side except a small PA, it offers spectacular views of an adjacent dam.

The first time we drove it, we were amazed such spectacular expense was used for nothing more than perhaps 50m of vertical climb. It does however snake off into the distance to an abandoned mining town.

With an equally spectacular tonkatsu lunch nearby... Which would likely look more appetizing in color. Neko.

Nismopunch · **Posted:** Fri Nov 04, 2011 7:21 am

Any more pics of the mining town? Somehow I got addicted to looking at Haikyo...my next trip out to Japan will hopefully be a lot of time wandering around the abandoned with my camera

4G63BT · **Posted:** Mon Nov 14, 2011 8:31 pm

good to know this site,,next year i will be on japan...

matsuda9 · **Posted:** Tue Nov 15, 2011 12:23 pm

Neko, i think its time

Kuroneko · **Posted:** Wed Nov 16, 2011 12:02 am

If the admins do not mind. Moar what though? Roads? Haikyo? Food? I've got another stacked up ready to go, I just need to collate the pics. We've got a trip scheduled this weekend north too, so hopefully that will yield at least two out of the three without going too far OT. Neko.

DmK66 · **Posted:** Wed Nov 16, 2011 12:35 am

Moar "all of the above" please !
Definatley not OT. Very much T, I'd say.

OT: Japanese Roads - And Other Interesting Places.

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