Have you watched anime? The frequently dilapidated old houses aren't frequently featured without reason; it's what happens when people can more easily reach "higher quality", those left behind crumble to dust.
Even more so now with those vile ebikes everywhere.
Have you been to southern Osaka, more specifically south of Yamato river? Would be interesting to hear your viewpoint on that area.
Then there's of course the Japanese turning their culture into a carnival ride; clown cars included!
I do not watch anime. Do not watch TV much at all, for that matter. But if I do, anime is not what I’m watching.
There is a lot of the abandoning old homes for new but I most often see the construction of the new home along side the abandoned to the elements home on the same property. I have also seen the old home torn down and a new one built in its place by the same family. Have two such homes across the street from me. One I took photos of before it was torn down, the other, sadly, I did not.
The junking of old vehicles and appliances here would freak out those who idolize Japan for sorting its trash. These folk do not know that we have to pay large sums to have large trash carted away. This has long lead to people who have replaced refrigerators, washing machines, bicycles and motor bikes to borrow a truck and take them to the woods, the mountains or a river to dump them.
Not quite what I meant as I haven't had a TV for the past 2 decades myself. 😅 Moreso referring to anime the medium as part of Japanese culture.
All anime isn't dragon ball and one piece btw! Just like all books aren't little mermaid and 50 shades, but I digress.
Tearing down and rebuilding is a well known phenomena in regards to Japan, due to ever expanding regulations surrounding earthquakes, tsunamis, and other environmental factors making it about the same cost if not cheaper.
Can't say I have seen an abandoned house next to a new one on the same property before. But then I don't really know how to recognise what belongs to what property.
I know in Osaka I've seen fridges and large cupboards next to other trash. Is there perhaps a large difference between different municipalities?
Usually, what I have seen is the new homes are built within the walled in property alongside a building that is left to collapse. Otherwise, I just see all the buildings of the homestead fall to decay. It seems that few want to pay for both the tearing down of an old house but also the disposal of the material. I have experience with that. When trying to build containment for our bamboo I dug out hundreds of liters of material from previous buildings on the site. Bricks, porcelain from a sink and a toilet, mirrors, lots of various kinds of glass, even clothing. Apparently, when a building is torn down in Japan, much of it is broken up and buried on site. We could not fins any way to dispose of it. The city office said they had no info to provide. Our neighbor came to our rescue. He owns a construction company and he hauled it off for us.
I have actually seen a few anime that I liked, Ghost in a Shell was excellent. But I do not have time for any tv of movies with but the few exceptions. I avoid anime due to bad experiences with anime otaku in the States.
Not all dispose of their trash illegally, but we must buy a sticker for oversized and other types of trash, call the city to arrange pick up and put it out on the right day and time. Now, when we buy large appliances, we can pay extra and have the store pick up our old one when they deliver the new one. Again, we have to pay. My family does but we occasionally run across these dumped alongside roads in the woods, mountains or in rivers.
I wonder if selling properties piece meal is a thing in Japan. You do have those barely 2 meters wide houses, snuggly crammed in between 2 other properly built houses, scattered around here and there after all.
Meaning; they might not have the rights to that part of the property?
That's quite nostalgic, as I have had the same experience with digging out porcelain, bricks, and such when renewing houses out in the Swedish countryside. Thanks for reminding me about that part of childhood!
Hopefully it didn't end up as a filling for a structural part of a bridge or something. 😅
Ghost in the Shell is quite an interesting journey; still have no idea what they find so interesting about Catcher in the Rye. Maybe I got the wrong edition or something.
To be honest I haven't really had time either, I only recall having watched Violet Evergarden during the past probably a decade given it came out 6 years ago.
Where does all that time go.
I do remember you having described such occurrences before, can't imagine what it would feel like. The closest I've gotten in Japan is finding an ancient leftover wheelbarrow from when they had constructed electric pylons atop a mountain in an overgrown forest.
Coming across rusty stoves and the like from what probably were an old abandoned house probably doesn't cut it.
What a sad but beautiful, clearly heartfelt post. Thank you so much for sharing those pictures. It was a wonderful tour. Thank goodness your love of architecture, Japan and photography have coincided. How lucky for us.
After the crash of 2008, zombie loans were defaulted on by people who could not afford to make payments on their home loans. Homes were left abandoned. After a while, homeless people would break in and live in these vacant homes. I called the local electric utility to ask if a home near me had electricity. They investigated and found that a homeless person had broken in and was stealing electricity from the company. I was surprised that a homeless vagrant had the knowledge to work with electric utility lines and not get shocked, but couldn’t get a job! It took a lot of time to get the person out of the home because the county had no idea who owned the home and the bank they finally found that owned the home was located out of state. Thank goodness the electric company was miffed about stealing electricity, or nothing would have been done. The home was totally trashed by the vagrant as there was no running water. There had to be major repairs done before the home could be sold. If a building is left empty these days in the US, it is good to keep an eye out for squatters. You must not have the homeless problem in Japan that the US has with open borders and drug abuse!
This may be a reason for home abandonment in Japan too, but so is the elderly owners spending their last few years in a hospital and their kids having homes of their own or there being to offspring to pass it on to. Another reason in Japan is that the taxes on inheritance have been extremely high, I do not know were they stand now but had been high enough in the past that heirs had no choice but to sell inherited homes and real estate to raise the cash for the tax. Not worth the enormous hassle for many especially rural properties that no one wants for free. So the they do not ownership of them.
Another is the system of transferring employees by corporations here. Often, the father is transferred after the kids start school. My wife’s family is unusual in that the family moved with her father when he was transferred. Most do not. The following is a typical progression of a corporate employees life path.
Land a job offer in their junior year in college and start with the company soon after graduation. Live in a company dorm until marriage, preferably with an employees of the some company. The woman quits to run the household. When he is transferred, his wife follows. When kids come along and are going to start school soon they buy a house. When the father is transferred, the rest of the family usually stays put. There is an abhorrence to changing schools for kids here. Better to split the family than change schools.
Later, dad might get an overseas assignment that allows for him to bring his family and they want to go with. The house is vacated. It may be rented, though I do not know how common that is in reality. They may intend to return after the oversea assignment concludes and I believe many do. But for reasons too numerous to list here, many do not.
Then we have cases such as one of my students had to deal with. He had recently been transferred to the Tokyo area with his wife who was pregnant. Both were from somewhere far from Tokyo and neither knew a single soul in the area. They had just bought a house and car when he was suddenly transferred to Singapore. His wife was left alone in the brand new house with zero support besides financial. She went back to her parents’ home leaving the brand new house and car abandoned. His departure for Singapore severed our communications, I was teaching him English for his company, so I do not know what happened after his presumed eventual return.
Homeless in Japan usually set up shop in parks and next/under railways. Putting together tents of cardboard or tarp.
Most of them are the very elderly in so far as I know. Although many of the suicides, which aren't as relatively common as media would like to have you think, are also elderly men who don't want to be a burden to their family or society.
Electricians usually require some form of licence and time working under a mentor to get a job in Western society; knowledge is far from the only requirement.
Sad!
Certainly, is +
Have you watched anime? The frequently dilapidated old houses aren't frequently featured without reason; it's what happens when people can more easily reach "higher quality", those left behind crumble to dust.
Even more so now with those vile ebikes everywhere.
Have you been to southern Osaka, more specifically south of Yamato river? Would be interesting to hear your viewpoint on that area.
Then there's of course the Japanese turning their culture into a carnival ride; clown cars included!
I do not watch anime. Do not watch TV much at all, for that matter. But if I do, anime is not what I’m watching.
There is a lot of the abandoning old homes for new but I most often see the construction of the new home along side the abandoned to the elements home on the same property. I have also seen the old home torn down and a new one built in its place by the same family. Have two such homes across the street from me. One I took photos of before it was torn down, the other, sadly, I did not.
The junking of old vehicles and appliances here would freak out those who idolize Japan for sorting its trash. These folk do not know that we have to pay large sums to have large trash carted away. This has long lead to people who have replaced refrigerators, washing machines, bicycles and motor bikes to borrow a truck and take them to the woods, the mountains or a river to dump them.
Not quite what I meant as I haven't had a TV for the past 2 decades myself. 😅 Moreso referring to anime the medium as part of Japanese culture.
All anime isn't dragon ball and one piece btw! Just like all books aren't little mermaid and 50 shades, but I digress.
Tearing down and rebuilding is a well known phenomena in regards to Japan, due to ever expanding regulations surrounding earthquakes, tsunamis, and other environmental factors making it about the same cost if not cheaper.
Can't say I have seen an abandoned house next to a new one on the same property before. But then I don't really know how to recognise what belongs to what property.
I know in Osaka I've seen fridges and large cupboards next to other trash. Is there perhaps a large difference between different municipalities?
Usually, what I have seen is the new homes are built within the walled in property alongside a building that is left to collapse. Otherwise, I just see all the buildings of the homestead fall to decay. It seems that few want to pay for both the tearing down of an old house but also the disposal of the material. I have experience with that. When trying to build containment for our bamboo I dug out hundreds of liters of material from previous buildings on the site. Bricks, porcelain from a sink and a toilet, mirrors, lots of various kinds of glass, even clothing. Apparently, when a building is torn down in Japan, much of it is broken up and buried on site. We could not fins any way to dispose of it. The city office said they had no info to provide. Our neighbor came to our rescue. He owns a construction company and he hauled it off for us.
I have actually seen a few anime that I liked, Ghost in a Shell was excellent. But I do not have time for any tv of movies with but the few exceptions. I avoid anime due to bad experiences with anime otaku in the States.
Not all dispose of their trash illegally, but we must buy a sticker for oversized and other types of trash, call the city to arrange pick up and put it out on the right day and time. Now, when we buy large appliances, we can pay extra and have the store pick up our old one when they deliver the new one. Again, we have to pay. My family does but we occasionally run across these dumped alongside roads in the woods, mountains or in rivers.
I wonder if selling properties piece meal is a thing in Japan. You do have those barely 2 meters wide houses, snuggly crammed in between 2 other properly built houses, scattered around here and there after all.
Meaning; they might not have the rights to that part of the property?
That's quite nostalgic, as I have had the same experience with digging out porcelain, bricks, and such when renewing houses out in the Swedish countryside. Thanks for reminding me about that part of childhood!
Hopefully it didn't end up as a filling for a structural part of a bridge or something. 😅
Ghost in the Shell is quite an interesting journey; still have no idea what they find so interesting about Catcher in the Rye. Maybe I got the wrong edition or something.
To be honest I haven't really had time either, I only recall having watched Violet Evergarden during the past probably a decade given it came out 6 years ago.
Where does all that time go.
I do remember you having described such occurrences before, can't imagine what it would feel like. The closest I've gotten in Japan is finding an ancient leftover wheelbarrow from when they had constructed electric pylons atop a mountain in an overgrown forest.
Coming across rusty stoves and the like from what probably were an old abandoned house probably doesn't cut it.
What a sad but beautiful, clearly heartfelt post. Thank you so much for sharing those pictures. It was a wonderful tour. Thank goodness your love of architecture, Japan and photography have coincided. How lucky for us.
After the crash of 2008, zombie loans were defaulted on by people who could not afford to make payments on their home loans. Homes were left abandoned. After a while, homeless people would break in and live in these vacant homes. I called the local electric utility to ask if a home near me had electricity. They investigated and found that a homeless person had broken in and was stealing electricity from the company. I was surprised that a homeless vagrant had the knowledge to work with electric utility lines and not get shocked, but couldn’t get a job! It took a lot of time to get the person out of the home because the county had no idea who owned the home and the bank they finally found that owned the home was located out of state. Thank goodness the electric company was miffed about stealing electricity, or nothing would have been done. The home was totally trashed by the vagrant as there was no running water. There had to be major repairs done before the home could be sold. If a building is left empty these days in the US, it is good to keep an eye out for squatters. You must not have the homeless problem in Japan that the US has with open borders and drug abuse!
This may be a reason for home abandonment in Japan too, but so is the elderly owners spending their last few years in a hospital and their kids having homes of their own or there being to offspring to pass it on to. Another reason in Japan is that the taxes on inheritance have been extremely high, I do not know were they stand now but had been high enough in the past that heirs had no choice but to sell inherited homes and real estate to raise the cash for the tax. Not worth the enormous hassle for many especially rural properties that no one wants for free. So the they do not ownership of them.
Another is the system of transferring employees by corporations here. Often, the father is transferred after the kids start school. My wife’s family is unusual in that the family moved with her father when he was transferred. Most do not. The following is a typical progression of a corporate employees life path.
Land a job offer in their junior year in college and start with the company soon after graduation. Live in a company dorm until marriage, preferably with an employees of the some company. The woman quits to run the household. When he is transferred, his wife follows. When kids come along and are going to start school soon they buy a house. When the father is transferred, the rest of the family usually stays put. There is an abhorrence to changing schools for kids here. Better to split the family than change schools.
Later, dad might get an overseas assignment that allows for him to bring his family and they want to go with. The house is vacated. It may be rented, though I do not know how common that is in reality. They may intend to return after the oversea assignment concludes and I believe many do. But for reasons too numerous to list here, many do not.
Then we have cases such as one of my students had to deal with. He had recently been transferred to the Tokyo area with his wife who was pregnant. Both were from somewhere far from Tokyo and neither knew a single soul in the area. They had just bought a house and car when he was suddenly transferred to Singapore. His wife was left alone in the brand new house with zero support besides financial. She went back to her parents’ home leaving the brand new house and car abandoned. His departure for Singapore severed our communications, I was teaching him English for his company, so I do not know what happened after his presumed eventual return.
Homeless in Japan usually set up shop in parks and next/under railways. Putting together tents of cardboard or tarp.
Most of them are the very elderly in so far as I know. Although many of the suicides, which aren't as relatively common as media would like to have you think, are also elderly men who don't want to be a burden to their family or society.
Electricians usually require some form of licence and time working under a mentor to get a job in Western society; knowledge is far from the only requirement.