Traffic... Laws? With Bonus Takoyaki

On the way back from the school today, I unintentionally joked a rather true observation: Japan doesn't seem to have traffic laws. It's much more like they have traffic suggestions. I don't know if it's the case in other large cities (Kyoto is 1.4 million. I consider that to be pretty big), but the lights here turn red, and people keep going through. Pedestrians wait at crosswalks about anywhere from 50% to 95% of the time, and this number varies on the width of the street the walk crosses, with streets 20m (60 feet) across usually not crossed unless it's green.
I've seen plenty of instances where motorbikes have been puttering along on the sidewalk or in a bicycle parking lot.
One of the weirdest things is that the areas with big, six-foot-tall signs that say "Don't park your bike here!" - and have large pictures in addition - these are the places where you will find the most bikes parked. They will theoretically impound your bike and charge you a $20-40 fee (varies on location) if you do, but these areas usually have a pile of bikes neatly lined up near them.

I had Sandy pose while parking his bike right behind the sign, as you can see here. I don't know why they even bother with the signs.

I picked up some takoyaki (octopus dumplings) at a place by the school for dinner, as they're cheap and pretty filling.

They don't look real appetizing in the picture, but a 10-minute ride over bumpy road in a sealed container covered in sauce doesn't make much of anything look attractive. But they were pretty tasty and at just the right temperature when I ate them.

One of the hardest parts about eating takoyaki is that they very quickly go from "Ohgodthefireextinguishernow!" hot to "That's some slimy... goober-balls you've got there" cold. There's a shop near the school that probably makes a killing in the winter selling these things for lunch.