Half way home

 A few years ago they tore down the old building that had been on this property and replaced it with these containers. They are rental storage boxes. Since most Japanese homes are small with little storage space, this type of rental storage is very popular.

 At this point the main road is directly above a side road. They are separated by a vertical wall. I have always wondered if the pump inside the concrete barrier walls was usable. Well, here is the answer. This is a kerosine delivery truck and it is filling up with kerosine. Many Japanese homes use kerosine for both heat and hot water.

 This is the high spot on the road, so water pressure is a bit of problem. In this picture you can see three rooftop water tanks. The only problem with these is that they use electric pumps to get the water from the mains up to the roof. If the power goes out, like after the earthquakes, there is no water.

 This is a Honda dealership that they are finally repairing. The glass panels around the showroom broke during the quakes and it looks like they are replacing them.

This year I am on the operating committee for my condo complex. We had a meeting last night and, although we had an estimate for doing the repair work, we decided to only repair places that caused a dangerous situation. There is a severe shortage of both skilled workers and supplies, so getting things repaired is very expensive. We decided to wait a year or so until prices start coming down and then to do the repairs a few at a time.

 I noticed for the first time that one of the small buildings between the many storied ferro concrete buildings is a church. The lower level, the street level, is all homes but on the higher level behind them one of the buildings has a cross on the roof, meaning that it is a church.

Here the road cuts through a hill that is covered in housing.