"Where am I?" Game

[ursus arctos]

I am surprised that Ketchikan has fewer than 10,000 residents

And I was on the right track in terms of topography

[caja-dglh]

Great work! The next shot would have been a little further towards the port where there is an absolutely massive cruise ship docked in some shots.

I get that I started with a rather tricky option here but it is rather remarkable that you were all able to piece it together.

[San Bernardhinault]

I'm quite surprised that Ketchikan has more than one date of Streetmap collection given that there are no roads in or out and - like Juneau - you can only get your car there on a boat.

[ad hoc]

Brilliant work SA

[S. aureus]

So I'm supposed to go next?

[ursus arctos]

That's Japan.

The Coke truck is a red herring of sorts.

Unfortunately for us, multi-track railways under catenary are ubiquitous in Japan (unlike North America).

[Sean of the Shed]

There's a sign on the building on the opposite side of the bridge but I can't expand the image on my phone and still read it.

[ursus arctos]

I don't think the resolution allows for it to be legible

[San Bernardhinault]

So, I can believe it's Japan. I don't know for sure Europe doesn't have railway tracks like that, but the Coke delivery van is right-hand-drive which limits the number of possible countries. So it's Japan, SE Asia or Australia, and I trust Ursus's railway knowledge, and think the buildings, puddles, cars, and the fact that it's winter (the deciduous trees have lost their leaves) and therefore not in the tropics, would suggest Japan of those choices.

I think you can see palm trees (or palm tree-disguise mobile phone masts) which I'd have guessed suggested further south in Japan - the internet tells me that palm trees exist on all four main islands, but I *think* the tall skinny palms towards the back might not be cold tolerant (no certainty on this).

[ursus arctos]

There are definitely railway tracks like that throughout much of Western Europe, but the right hand drive and the architecture of what USIans would call a strip mall convinces me that it is Japan. There also look to be Japanese or Chinese characters to the right of the gable and on the truck right of that.

The palm trees make me think that it isn't Hokkaido (the northernmost main island, which also has less developed rail infrastructure). The deciduous trees may be think it is likely not Kyushu (the southernmost).

[San Bernardhinault]

So we think *probably* Honshu, but maybe Shikoku?

Does the presence of the parking garage tell us anything? I don't know much about Japan, but a smallish parking garage next to the trains suggests maybe a mid-size town or perhaps somewhere commuter-beltish. There three fairly isolated big buildings, but I can't work out what they tell us - the one behind the parking garage looks kind of hospital-y to me, which means it could be anywhere. The one with the slanty roof off on the left of shot is more distinctive. I wonder about the one in the middle of the shot with the tower on the right. I can't work out if it's angled slightly out and is actually a sports arena stand - a race track or something - or if it's just balconies on a residential building.

[ursus arctos]

The garage and strip mall are very typical, unfortunately.

I think the parking is for the shops, not for a railway station. If there is a station near the shot, it is on the other side of the tracks.

Ive tried to find the building with the triangular profile without success.

[S. aureus]

Japan it is. Another shot, from the same spot but looking in more-or-less the opposite direction.

[ursus arctos]

Woah

So what I immediately read as a railway cutting with catenary is a canal/channel open to recreational boating that has transverse wires whose purpose is a mystery to me.

And rather large hotels/office buildings.

I need to think a bit, but am taking Shikoku more seriously given its percentage of coastline and coastal centres. Hiroshima (across the strait) is another contender.

[caja-dglh]

I was about to type that finding below road level rail was proving very challenging (and maybe key) in locating this spot. Then this.

[ursus arctos]

It is unusual in Japan, which is known for having very long viaducts, especially in urban areas.

[caja-dglh]

Ok - there seems to be a freaking huge mountain in the clouds when we look that direction.

[ursus arctos]

Kagoshima may be worth a look, though it is further south than we thought earlier

Fuji isn't far from the coast, but I'm not sure the geography works

Street View appears to be incredibly dense in urban Japan

[Sean of the Shed]

Can't see how Fuji works because the waterway goes out into a harbour that has a view of the mountain. There isn't anywhere that does that near Fuji as far as I can see. I would have thought the location could be on a peninsula or side of a natural harbour that faces the mainland opposite a mountain. There is also a bridge structure at the end of the waterway.

[Sheep]

The profile of the mountain does kind of match. See this, for instance. That left slope, with that interruption, looks similar.

[ursus arctos]

A number of Japan's most prominent mountains are volcanic in origin and have similar profiles to Fuji.

This is an illustration of why I thought of Kagoshima

[Sean of the Shed]

It is Kagoshima.

Screenshot_20220731-212412_Maps.jpg

[Sean of the Shed]

Try this one.

Screenshot_20220731-222401_Maps.jpg

[Fussbudget]

Impressive work, Sean.

Based on the lorry, green number plates and left-side driving I would say the new one is Malaysia

[ursus arctos]

I would try Penang