People are forever saying that Japan doesn't have much space, but it's not true. There's plenty of space here. The only problem is that most of it is at an angle of 80 degrees.

The land of Japan covers 364,000 sq km, which is at least the same as the Isle of Wight and probably twice the size of Wales, so we're talking big here. But the fact is, most of it comprises mountains. As a result, the cities, built on the flat bits, can be pretty tightly packed - so in places like Osaka, there's not a great deal of green to be seen.

More often than not, a house is built without a garden, front or back. The front door leads straight onto the road (there are few pavements), which means you can never walk out of your house backwards. This is annoying if that's the kind of thing you like to do.

However, the people of Osaka are a determined bunch, and the mere fact that they have no garden will certainly not stop them from having a garden.

So take a stroll around the city's backstreets and before long you're bound to stumble across what has become known as the road garden....


Here, beer crates from the izakaya next door are put to good use.


Sometimes a great deal of time and effort is put into these landscaped masterpieces...




...while other times....


"Bish, bash, bosh and we got ourselves a garden."


They certainly bring a bit of colour and character to what would otherwise be a....er...road.




Here's one which is borderline bonkers...


More road jungle than road garden.


....whereas the creator of this road garden has taken a more minimalist approach....


Plant pots that will still be there the next morning.

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