Still walking but headed home

 I was nearing Asahigaoka and had just started up the hill to reach the subway station, when I turned and felt as if I was in the wilds.

 I passed over the top of the hill and started down the other side. I decided not to go to the station area but to just transit the hill and reach the main Sendai to Izumi Chuo road that lies in the valley on the other side of the ridge. On the way down I saw a gas station that had closed after the quakes. It looks like there are no plans to reopen. A few years ago investors started opening gas stations and eventually there were too many. Many of them are no closing. Probably the problem of high competition and the cost of repairs have caused the owner to give up.

 At the intersection with the main road, there is a small side road that parallels the main road for a few hundred meters and goes in my direction. I suspect it is a section of the old road, the one that followed the valley before they build the Sendai to Izumi Chuo four lane road. I decided to take the side road and immediately found this house which had lost most of a wall in the quakes.

 Architecturally I like these building (this building?).  It is a group of five buildings that are connected and have similar designs. You can see the backs of them from the main road so I frequently see them. They are becoming quite rundown, but some of them are obviously still in use. There is some kind of bar in one and a beauty parlor in another. The others appear to have people living in them.

 At the end of the side road, I have to cross a bridge to get back to the main road. As I do, I stop and look down. There is a large school of small fish and some huge carp.

These two carp are each around two feet in length and, although I can not get them all in a single picture I can see at least a half dozen of them swimming around.