Japanese Roofs

I remember that during my first trip to Japan (possibly even my first hours in Japan), one of the things that fascinated me the most were traditional Japanese roofs.

Of course, nowadays, they’re a pretty common sight – pretty much a daily one – and they still fascinate me, especially because I realize that it’s been almost four years and I still don’t know what purpose those gutter-like structures serve (I’ve been meaning to research about those for pretty much that long, and still haven’t – if you know the answer. 🙂 )