Cute Japanese roadside barriers, dolphins

Ever since my first visits to Japan, I noticed that some construction sites are marked with very unusual roadside barriers, shaped as cute and funny animals. They are a quite recent invention, first appearing 8 years ago, when the Sendai-based company Sendaimeiban created them in collaboration to the Asahiyama Zoo of Hokkaido.

The idea of cute roadside barriers was a success, and I saw them all over the country. They certainly make the construction site a bit friendlier and probably making the drivers more careful. After all, nobody would want to hit such a cute dolphin...