This is one aspect of Japan I don't like. Electrical eyesores everywhere.
Discussion
There are surprisingly many fans of this scene in Japan.
Japan has many earthquakes, so buildings are built above ground due to the high risk of burying them underground for maintenance reasons.
Well there's no accounting for taste! 🙂 But I don't think the earthquake argument for it holds up. It's not like there's overhead gas pipes, which probably presents more of a risk than electrical cabling. All they need to do is put sufficient slack in the cables and they will rarely need maintenance, as most quakes are minor. I think there's a greater risk to life from the cables being overhead. I think it's down to cost saving.
I understand.
The reason why there are so many telephone poles in Japan is a remnant of the country's rapid growth after World War II. I think we will slowly move to underground burial in the future.