short trip into the province

Yesterday i went on a short business trip to oota in gunma prefecture. amazing, how 2 hours car drive away japan looks so different from what i am used to here in tokyo. most notably, there is space, a lot of space, mostly parking space. in these places you cannot be without a car i presume. it really looks a lot like the united states (outside of new york, of course).
the town just merged with neighboring towns resulting in a bigger income. and they are going to spend it on architecture, too. what i was most impressed by however were the countless nude sculpture all over the place. it gives you a clue about ootas golden days far far back. ahh, there is few things better than mayors spending money on sculpture and architecture, a true patron of art.