Morning Walk in the Neighborhood

Some photos I took on my morning walk yesterday, loosely connected, I guess, under the heading of "buildings".

As you might imagine, in a country as populated and crowded as Japan there are a shitload of apartment buildings. These buildings come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, but the constraints of space require certain features to be pretty standard. (Inside, Japanese apartments all look pretty much the same--like a rectangular "box".)
Electric (or gas) clothes driers are something of a rarity in Japan (or, at least, in Miyazaki). So, it's pretty common to see laundry hanging out on the balcony on sunny days (click to enlarge).

Most apartments are entered or exited from the outside of the building (like a motel), and some superficial differences in design can be noticed between different buildings. This is one common type.

Here's another common type.

The shape of a balcony will sometimes vary from building to building. You can tell these are offices, because there's no laundry hanging out.

This pic breaks the theme somewhat, but gives you an idea of something I've posted about before--the ubiquitous vending machine. I wish I had one in my parking space!