Walking around

 This lot near Yaotome had been empty for at least 10 years before they started on this building. I do not know what it is going to be but I looks suspiciously like a fast food restaurant.

 This is very strange. This bridge was rebuilt about 8 years ago. It crosses a little stream and the subway is on a bridge above it, the source of the shadow in the picture. The strangeness comes from the fact that the sidewalk is on a separate bridge. This picture shows the empty space between the road and the sidewalk. Apparently the city contracted one company to build the road bridge and another to build the sidewalk. The reason behind such a decision would be to spread the money around and not concentrate it in one company. Japanese public works designs are submitted to various companies for estimates but the lowest estimate is not always the winner. Consideration will be given to spreading the work around so that all the companies can survive and keep their employees working.

 I passed some very pretty flower growing beside the road.

This was an apartment building that was condemned after the earthquake. It has taken a year but they are finally tearing it down. I assume that it will be replaced. Most buildings like this have occupant owned apartments and a self government that collects money each month for maintenance and a fund for replacing the building if necessary. My complex is currently in the process of using our funds to repair the damage caused by the quakes.

 This is on the main road between Izumi Chuo and downtown Sendai. I doubt if you could see something like this in the US or many other countries. It is a golfing goods store and there is a large supply of clubs and other stuff sitting open on the sidewalk. I looked inside but there was not anyone in the showroom. The clerk must have been in the backroom. If I had wanted to, I could have just walked off with a selection of expensive clubs with almost no chance of being caught. However, I doubt if this place ever had, or will ever have, anything stolen.

The hill on the right shelter a torture and execution ground a couple of hundred years ago. The people who live in the area claim to see ghosts of the dead wandering around at night and there is a shrine just passed the hill.