>What seems to help with this Japan is that zoning and building codes are top down from the highest level of government This is the only way to effect a societ

>What seems to help with this Japan is that zoning and building codes are top down from the highest level of government This is the only way to effect a society where housing is "not an investment". Otherwise you're looking at local governments that are wholly captured by a constituency tilted toward, effectively, cronyist voters furiously determined to keep their property as valuable as possible.