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HERO: Week of 03.30

Status Report - HERO: Week of 03.30

Posted:March 30, 2014
New Staircase

I started this week's work by adding an additional staircase that connects two residential neighborhoods together separated by a steep drop. The city now has three of these stairs. There are a couple locations that could host more but it is unlikely that any more will be constructed.


Street Mirror

I have continued creating small but important features and scattering them across the landscape. One of these was the addition of convex mirrors at sharp intersections. Many Japanese streets are quite narrow and Takeizumi-machi is no exception. These mirrors help to see if traffic is coming from another direction as the walls enclosing lots are difficult to see around.


Postbox at Bus Stop

A few post boxes have sprouted up around town. Mail may continue to decline into the future, but these boxes remain as a relic and do contain actual mail from time to time. They can be found at bus stops and other places where people congregate.


Vending by the Harbor

Another major feature of Japanese streets are the numerous vending machines that show up in some of the most unlikely places. These are accompanied by garbage receptacles. Japan takes garbage sorting and recycling to 11, with different days and bags for each type of trash. Public receptacles have four types, plastic bottles, cans & glass, paper, and other waste. Each neighborhood has several locations where residents take their trash for pickup.


Trash Pickup with Nagareboshi High School in the Background

Going forward, there are still more features to design and implement. Benches, streelights, and bike racks are some of what you can look forward to seeing next.


All images are unrendered, raw SketchUp models.

Nick