Traffic Forecast
Keeping to your lane
on a cloud superhighway
steers you clear of…rain?
Having arrived from The Philippines where just being on a road takes bottle, and expecting the madness of Asia, we instantly warm to Japanese roads. Granted, it takes ages to get anywhere as the average speed seems to be 40km per hour. But even in big cities like Osaka, the traffic is polite and orderly; no one ever crosses a road without a green man flashing, and rush hour happens in slow motion.
We don’t expect similar road discipline and rules on a mountain-side. But we get them. On a day’s hiking to Happo Ike, in the northern Alps above Hakuba, we discover a boardwalk has been erected all the way up the pass to the small lake. There are hundreds using it. Everyone sticks to their own lane. The landscape isn’t eroded in any way. And it looks and feels so orderly. English Lake District authorities take notice. Maybe the solution to eroded fells lies with your Japanese visitors.
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