The elevated expressways of Fukuoka

One of the more interesting features of Fukuoka's cityscape are its elevated expressways.
They come in a variety of designs, are often stacked on top of each other, and run into and merge with each other at varying points, creating some interesting views.
They can also frame the background scenery in a rather interesting way. This is Hakozaki shrine as seen through two levels of an expressway heading into downtown:
They also take traffic through some of Fukuoka's other industrial sites, like these giant oil "bubbles":
Our apartment is actually quite close to one of these expressways, maybe 100 metres away. Fortunately its on the other side of our hill so we don't hear it or have to look at it. Its fun to look at them sometimes when passing by a place where they wrap around a neighborhood or something like giant ribbons, but basically they are eyesores and most people have a "not in my backyard" attitude towards them.

That said, they are actually quite useful for cyclists. I can't ride on the expressways themselves, but they usually have roads running directly underneath them with large bicycle/pedestrian paths. Because they follow the route of the expressway they are usually quite direct and don't have a lot of intersections. Traffic is also pretty light on these roads and they often have a lot of trees planted alongside them, so they are quite convenient.