Town and infrastructure

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• Underground! Yokkaichi’s Urban Flood TrapYokkaichi's flood map paints the city center in heavy color, so at first glance it looks like everything goes under.
• Black-and-White Car With Blue Lights? Red vs. Blue Patrol Cars in JapanA black-and-white car rolls past.
• They went out to find their dog: a chain accident, and what to avoidOn the evening of September 30, 2026, two brothers were searching by vehicle for their missing pet dog on a national road in Gifu Prefecture, Japan.

This week’s archive picks

Each week we rotate in a few older articles from this theme, taking turns through all of them.

• Can flooded street water contain sewage? Rain, bacteria and road soupWashing your hair with rain falling directly from the sky is already a questionable hygiene choice.
• When Travel Becomes a Giant Search Box: Stations, Roads, and SignsA person who would normally cross a station square in five minutes can suddenly spend half an hour wondering why the station sits at that exact point, why one…
• Japan's 30 km/h Residential Roads: Do They Work? Crashes Down 17%, Plus the 60 km/h Penalty CliffI saw a cyclist with a favorite-character keychain on their bag, watching anime on a phone while riding.

All “Town and infrastructure” articles, newest first

Newest first

• Al Buqqi: Why Is Everyone Making a Pilgrimage to a Gas Station?Why are people talking about a pilgrimage to a gas station?
• Who fixes damaged roads in Japan after a 9910 report—and why so fast?A road defect reported on a Japanese public holiday was already repaired when the person returned on Wednesday. Meet the system and crews behind that speed.
• Why Is That Road Puddle Rainbow-Colored? Oil Leaks, Iron Bacteria, and Life Without SunlightAfter rain, a puddle on the road glows like a rainbow. “A truck leaked oil,” someone says. Another person replies, “Maybe iron bacteria.”
• Underground! Yokkaichi’s Urban Flood TrapYokkaichi's flood map paints the city center in heavy color, so at first glance it looks like everything goes under.
• Black-and-White Car With Blue Lights? Red vs. Blue Patrol Cars in JapanA black-and-white car rolls past.
• They went out to find their dog: a chain accident, and what to avoidOn the evening of September 30, 2026, two brothers were searching by vehicle for their missing pet dog on a national road in Gifu Prefecture, Japan.
• When Travel Becomes a Giant Search Box: Stations, Roads, and SignsA person who would normally cross a station square in five minutes can suddenly spend half an hour wondering why the station sits at that exact point, why one…
• Japan's 30 km/h Residential Roads: Do They Work? Crashes Down 17%, Plus the 60 km/h Penalty CliffI saw a cyclist with a favorite-character keychain on their bag, watching anime on a phone while riding.
• Can flooded street water contain sewage? Rain, bacteria and road soupWashing your hair with rain falling directly from the sky is already a questionable hygiene choice.
• Why can a 35 kg manhole cover lift in a downpour? Nagoya's sewersTwo days earlier, a visit to Nagoya’s sewer facilities offered the comforting sight of enormous pipes.
• Are anime manhole covers private? Nagoya's 35 kg cast-iron lidA decorated manhole cover at a sewer museum raises a simple question: if an anime or character company owns the design, is the manhole itself private?
• How does a sewer clean wastewater? 7,900 km under NagoyaThere is a second surprise.
• What happens to sewage sludge? How "poop cake" becomes cement and fertilizer (Nagoya sewer museum)Treated sewage sludge doesn't just get dumped: in Nagoya, 99.8% of the ash from burned sludge is reused, mostly in cement, and dried sludge is sold as a…
• Was That Curtained Police Minibus a Prisoner Transport? Not NecessarilyOn the way to lunch, a small Japanese police bus came into view. Red warning light. Two officers visible at the front. Curtains across the rear windows.
• Saw a black-and-white car with a blue light in Japan? It's not the police — here's the differenceYou're walking down a street in Japan and a black-and-white car rolls past. On the roof there's a light bar that screams "police car."
• Can you enter a gas station the "wrong" way? An unwritten queue ruleImagine a self-service gas station.
• Why Japan uses both Crown sedans and compact police carsJapanese police fleets can look oddly inconsistent: a large Crown-type patrol car may be followed by a compact car that appears far less intimidating.
• What Does a Public Health Office Actually Do? From “Animals and COVID” to the City’s Public-Health Final BossIf the phrase public health office makes you think only of stray animals or “the place that was overwhelmed during COVID,” you are not alone.