{"id":647,"date":"2007-11-28T16:53:29","date_gmt":"2007-11-28T07:53:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2007-11-28\/647"},"modified":"2007-11-28T17:26:50","modified_gmt":"2007-11-28T08:26:50","slug":"a-kinky-drive-the-no-2-keihan-expressway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2007-11-28\/647","title":{"rendered":"A Kinki Drive: The No. 2 Keihan Expressway"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n

Despite the beauty of Kyoto<\/a> and Japan that I try<\/span> to showcase in the\nphotos I normally<\/span> post, most of the populated ares of Japan are\nwall-to-wall unmitigated monochromatic urban blight. Concrete, utility\npoles, warehouses, convenience stores, congested traffic, anonymous\nnondescript office buildings.... just lots and lots of visually-neutered\ncomponents pasted together with horrific amounts of mind-numbing blah<\/i>.<\/p>\n\n

The drive down to Hirakata (to see a doctor<\/span> about my ouchy back, as I mentioned yesterday<\/a>) is\nthrough this metropolitan monotony most of the way. As such, the drive is\nin no way pleasant, but it does offer one point that I find<\/span> interesting:\nthe ongoing construction of the elevated \u7b2c\u4e8c\u4eac\u962a\u9053\u8def<\/span><\/b>, the “No. 2\nKyoto-Osaka Expressway”.<\/p>\n\n

Its planning dates back\nto 1969<\/a>, but actual construction didn't start until a few<\/span> years ago.\nAccording to its\nWikipedia page<\/a>, it's scheduled for completion in the spring of\n2010.<\/p>\n\n

What I find so interesting about it is that each small section of the\nmost-northern few miles of it seem to have been designed by a different<\/span>\nperson having no contact with the others. As you drive<\/span> along, its\nappearance is always changing, always dynamic.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 17mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>180 sec, f\/7.1, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span><\/span>\nUnder the Northern End of the “No.2 Keihan Expressway”<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Autumn has arrived in full force, and lately we've been having\nwonderfully crisp, sunny, brisk days with few clouds and wonderfully clear\nair. But as if<\/span> to highlight and enhance the total blah of the lifeless\nurban sprawl I was<\/span> driving through, yesterday was overcast and\nexceptionally<\/i> hazy, almost to the point of being foggy.<\/p>\n\n

So, above we have these huge “sideways F” supports, yet just an eighth\nof a mile<\/span> later, we have something completely different....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 45mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>50 sec, f\/7.1, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nRamps<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

And just a tad further, we now have both lanes together and single center columns....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 30mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f\/7.1, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nBus Stop? Emergency Exit?<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

It sort of sad, but among all the urban yuck<\/i> that this highway\ncuts through, there's still the occasional remnant of old. After taking the\npicture above, I turned<\/span> to the side of the road and snapped a picture<\/span> of\nthis little house and its garden, some of the only green I saw<\/span> along the\nway....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 17mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f\/7.1, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nHemmed In<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Moving along just a bit further, we still have the unified roadways, but\nnow the center columns are doubled in one style or another....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 30mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f\/7.1, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nColumns Evocative of the Logo on a Hanshin<\/span> Tigers' Hat<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

A bit further, and now we have these massive center columns with\nwide<\/i> arms, holding very thin ramp flyovers....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 17mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f\/7.1, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nImpressive Balance<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

One reason for the dynamic nature, of course, is that they had to make\nthe thing fit into the existing urban zone. However, once you get far\nenough south and into slighly more rural areas, it's apparently all new,\nrecently-opened construction. A short<\/span> section of the expressway there is\nalready opened (crossing the Uji River), and when I discovered<\/span> it, it took\nonly half a mile<\/span> off my trip to the doctor, but it cut out a nasty<\/span> segment\nof conjestion that cut my 60-minute trip down to 40 minutes.<\/p>\n\n

After that little segment on the expressway (fee is 150 yen –\nabout a buck<\/span> and a quarter<\/span> American), I descended<\/span> back down to the surface\nstreet underneath, which at this point was new, clean, wide, and eerily\ndevoid of traffic.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 55mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f\/7.1, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nExpressway Above, “New Route 1<\/span>” Below<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

After the earlier chaos (both visually, and traffic\/congestion-wise),\nthe smooth curves and pleasant patterns of repetition made this short\nsection an unexpected pleasure to drive. The lack of<\/span> traffic was an\nadditional bonus.<\/p>\n\n

This area, and the open expressway above, are both new, so there's\nlittle traffic, and as such, little law enforcement (that is, a license\nto speed<\/i>). I'd think<\/span> it'd be the perfect place for a speed<\/span> trap, but\napparently not, because a friend<\/span> of mine who has to drive long distances\nalso likes to drive exceedingly fast<\/i>, and he says he takes this part\nof the expressway at 150 miles an hour. (I like<\/span> to drive as zippy as the\nnext guy, but that's<\/i> just insane, so I hardly<\/span> approve.)<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 55mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>40 sec, f\/7.1, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nAnother Long Vista<\/span>Facing the opposite direction\n<\/div>\n\n

One of the “new construction” areas cuts through a region<\/span> with a fair<\/span>\nnumber of cross streets, so that area takes on the more traditional\ndual-level design...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 20mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>40 sec, f\/7.1, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nTraditional Styling<\/span>(untraditional lack of traffic)\n<\/div>\n\n

By the way, I live in<\/span> the city of Kyoto, which is part of Kyoto\nPrefecture, which is part of the larger \u4eac\u962a<\/span><\/b> region (keihan<\/i> –\n“Kyoto-Osaka”), which itself is part of a larger<\/span> region of Japan\nknow as \u8fd1\u757f<\/span><\/b> (kinki<\/i> – “environs around the capitol”,\nreflecting that Kyoto the capital of Japan for over a thousand<\/span> years),\nwhich itself is part of an even wider region known as \u95a2\u897f<\/span><\/b>\nkansai<\/i>. My trip yesterday<\/span> took me out of Kyoto, but only just into\nOsaka Prefecture, so I probably<\/span> should have titled this post “A Keihan<\/span>\nDrive,” but that wouldn't be as fun a title<\/span> as “A Kinki<\/span> Drive,” now would\nit? \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite the beauty of Kyoto and Japan that I try to showcase in the photos I normally post, most of the populated ares of Japan are wall-to-wall unmitigated monochromatic urban blight. Concrete, utility poles, warehouses, convenience stores, congested traffic, anonymous nondescript office buildings.... just lots and lots of visually-neutered components pasted together with horrific amounts of mind-numbing blah.<\/p>

The drive down to Hirakata (to see a doctor about my ouchy back, as I mentioned yesterday) is through this metropolitan monotony most of the way. As such, the drive is in no way pleasant, but it does offer one point that [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}