Blocks installed by local gov't in Osaka criticized as hostile architecture

OSAKA - The city of Osaka has recently been inundated with over a hundred inquiries after it installed a series of rectangular objects protruding from the ground near JR Osaka Station, with people criticizing them as hostile architecture meant to deter homeless people from loitering in the space.

The random blocks jut out from a white paved surface measuring around 60 square meters that was formerly shrubbery. Passengers getting out of taxis nearby were seen having to walk along the roadside to avoid the blocks.