“Doesn’t middle America look just like Japan?” Yes, it definitely does. The weebs will likely be disappointed to know that not all of Japan is “Blade Runner,” and that there are plenty of ugly stroads and non walkable cities

@CacheThatCheque I think to be fair the difference is still the people. Go to a place that looks like that in the US and you’re met with trailer park drug addicts and people who have no regard for others. If anything, some of the nicest people you can meet in Japan are from Yamanashi.

@CacheThatCheque China is fkin blade runner Japan is a comfier america

@CacheThatCheque same with Seoul!

@CacheThatCheque This is true. Thailand as well…..India…..Nepal…..etc etc etc. The world sees pretty pics of a place….and they think the whole place is that way. It is not.

@CacheThatCheque That sign points to a train station with electric service that comes every 30 mins. Massive difference compared to the US. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isawa-Ons…

@CacheThatCheque When Japanese visit a generic car friendly suburban city in the US south... they love it. "Just like a movie!"

@CacheThatCheque Im not sure if walkability is that big of an issue in rural areas, japan or usa. Like just dont get run over? What makes a rural area walkable or not?

@CacheThatCheque Okay, but at least the ugly stroads are near stuff. Like, there's probably a grocery store within a 15 minute walk.

@CacheThatCheque I know rural Japan has stroads, but even the two examples you posted are waaay more walkable than anywhere in America. Like, in the first example, you can easily grab a マック and take it to the DVD個室 without breaking a sweat.

@CacheThatCheque what the fuck are u talking about, u can clearly see bike paths, sidewalks AND PEOPLE ON THEM in the examples provided. these are the worst examples u got and they're objectively WAY more walkable than 99.999% of american cities

@CacheThatCheque Please tell me the train schedule in Breezewood, PA (depicted in the photo).

@CacheThatCheque It's still (marginally) better with narrower streets and smaller(ish) cars, but god, it is ugly.

@CacheThatCheque who thinks of walkable cities and pretty roads when they think "blade runner"? have you watched the movies?

@CacheThatCheque As someone who has been to both, no lol. Guns, drug-addicted zombies and trailer parks are non-existent in the latter. Also rural Japan is still very fucking walkable idk what ur smoking. In rural America you're better off driving a beater that will combust any minute than walk.

@CacheThatCheque This is true of most countries. Most cities in Europe have stroads, but American tourists only go in the post card worthy old towns, so they never see them.

@CacheThatCheque アメリカは車社会だと聞いています。日本の地方都市も車社会です。その結果、同じような光景になるのは興味深い点だと思います。ブレードランナーファンにとっては悲しい事実ですが日本の7割はこのような光景が広がっていると理解してください。しかし日本の特色は田舎の風物にこそ現れるでしょう。

@CacheThatCheque Meanwhile you showcased it by using pictures of a Japanese road that still has walkable roads for both who are walking & riding a bike. Funny.

@CacheThatCheque It's a town in a rural area in Japan. I live in an even more rural area.

The replies in that original quoted post are so stupid (people have no idea how insular and unworldly most Japanese are). Some of the ones here too. Wow, it's almost like most suburbs and exurbs in industrialized countries around the world are oriented around automotive transport!

@CacheThatCheque anyone can easily get from middle of nowhere japan to central tokyo (or anywhere else) without riding a car. impossible in america. a car is a nice to have in japan. a car is a must have in us. suburban landscape and design are completely different.

@CacheThatCheque japan is significantly more pretty regardless and is way more walkable and liveable as a whole this is americoid cope

@CacheThatCheque Rural Japan has small farm plots owned by locals instead of mega corps, and there are mountains around to at least balance the ugliness. They also have trains even if it is less options and on slower schedules. Can’t say the same about much of the Midwest.

@CacheThatCheque Pedestrian infrastructure spotted.

@CacheThatCheque Japanese posted with the simple meaning that even rural America is a car-dependent society, with petrol stations and major chain stores lining the main roads, yet it seems to have been taken far more negatively than intended.

@CacheThatCheque They have trains.

@CacheThatCheque Pretty untrue, though. Even in the Japan pictures you posted you can see the bikes riding on the relatively wide sidewalks while in America there isn't even a place to walk, nevermind ride, at all.

@CacheThatCheque I mean, you can’t connect literally everywhere to the train system. Some towns are just too small to justify it. Overall Japanese coverage is still very good.

@CacheThatCheque Me when I discover Japan also has suburban sprawl:

@CacheThatCheque The stroads are better than the cities imho. You say unwalkable but the sidewalks are way better next to stroads, and I'd wager overcrowding in cities is causing more problems than if people just lived further spread out and traveled everywhere by car.

@CacheThatCheque "Non-walkable" meanwhile right there in those photos you can see Japan has at least pavements and pedestrian crossings, while most suburban American towns don't.

@CacheThatCheque この現象を日本では「ファスト風土化」と呼びます。 ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%95…

@CacheThatCheque Yeah but Japan has Don ki and combini

@CacheThatCheque I happen to live fairly close to one these ugly streets. A whole 10 or so km of commercial blight and decay. Sidewalks abruptly disappear and you’re forced to walk on the shoulders of the road with big trucks barreling by. Actually the U.S. version of this is more preferable.