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People are downvoting you, but everyone I know here in Japan has told me this. It's not that they're planning for complete annihilation from a massive earthqua

by fiblye 7y ago

People are downvoting you, but everyone I know here in Japan has told me this. It's not that they're planning for complete annihilation from a massive earthquake, but there's bound to be some wear and tear when a relatively large one strikes every few years. Compound that with the absurd humidity and mold problem endemic to pretty much all of coastal Asia (trying to keep your house mold-free is a losing battle after a certain point and it's unavoidable) and the cost and effort of repairs far outweighs the ease of just tearing it down and rebuilding. In the west, a 20 year old house is considered brand new. In Japan, 20 years old is bordering on junk territory. 30 years is junk and not worth the effort of repairs. You can search online and find 40 year old houses basically selling for pocket change since they're basically considered moldy death traps on the verge of collapse. Now, though, Western-style homes built to withstand earthquakes are becoming common and they're expected to be a slightly better investment. How these houses fair against mold is something I'm not sure of. A commenter below mentioned spirits accumulating in a house, but I've never heard of such a thing and it reeks of mysterious orientalism. But most people won't buy a house that someone committed suicide in or was murdered in. "Jikenya" (incident homes) are marked as such and sell for drastically reduced prices, if they can sell them at all.

markdown 7y ago
> absurd humidity and mold problem endemic to pretty much all of coastal Asia (trying to keep your house mold-free is a losing battle after a certain point and it's unavoidable) The only place I ever read about this supposedly terrifying mould is on the internet, usually from Americans. What exactly is wrong with mould? Everyone lives in mouldy houses where I live. Going by Americans online, we should all be dead by now (if not from the mould, from touching raw chicken... the other supposed terror).
- stefanfisk 7y ago
  and where do you live?
  - mikekchar 7y ago
    Not OP. I have to admit that my apartment in Japan is covered in mold. It makes for good cheesemaking ;-) Some people in the UK seem to be quite concerned about the health effects of mold as well. I know people who have spent tens of thousands of pounds battling it. I don't have any idea if its justified or not. I know nothing about the topic. However, I can at least verify that the people I know in Japan don't worry very much about mold growing on surfaces in the houses in the summer. You try your best to keep the house clean in the summer and then before new year you do "ousoji" (big cleaning) and clean every surface. The biggest thing about mold in our household is clothes. You constantly have to take your clothes out of storage and air them. I've had a fair amount of clothes ruined to mold and that's the biggest problem I deal with.
  - markdown 7y ago
    Fiji
- ZeroFries 7y ago
  There's only a few strains of mould which pose a health problem for humans. I wonder if the mould in areas where it's endemic has colonized the "friendlier" strains, competing with the toxic ones, like good gut bacteria.
throw0101a 7y ago
> Compound that with the absurd humidity and mold problem endemic to pretty much all of coastal Asia (trying to keep your house mold-free is a losing battle after a certain point and it's unavoidable) and the cost and effort of repairs far outweighs the ease of just tearing it down and rebuilding. Worse than, say, the US South? Just make sure you have air and vapour tightness, with a good whole-house dehumidifier and you should be set. Good building (science) channel from builder in Austin, TX, where humidity is a thing: * https://www.youtube.com/user/MattRisinger/videos https://www.youtube.com/user/MattRisinger/videos
- rangibaby 7y ago
  Tokyo (for example) seems to have more extreme weather than Austin, notably it has twice as much rain on average.
  - mikekchar 7y ago
    It compares a bit closer to the Carolinas I think. However, Japan has a rainy season as well (usually about mid June to end of July) where it's very humid. It usually dries out a bit in summer (August to mid October) because the temperature goes up. I remember the first year I was in Japan trying to dry my shirts on the line in the rainy season. All of my clothing was cotton based and quite a lot of it got moldy on the line! Most Japanese clothes these days have at least some synthetics in it so that it dries quicker.
- fiblye 7y ago
  It’s not just the inside that molds, but the outside. Going to an even more humid place like Hong Kong or Taiwan, you’ll see most buildings, bridges, signs, and virtually everything covered in a permanent cake of black mold. It’s bad around the US south, but it’s really far worse in Asia. Few structures are considered permanent.
  - jdc 7y ago
    Few structures are considered permanent. Not sure if this is meant as hyperbole, how do you explain Japanese buildings built during the 7th century still standing today?
codedokode 7y ago
I might be wrong, but is not the motivation for rebuilding houses to build a larger house? E.g. replace a nice 2-floor wooden house with not so nice 9 floor house from bricks and without a garden, and later demolish it and build ugly modern concrete high-rise building?
Aeolun 7y ago
It is not only suicide or murder homes. My wife (Japanese) extends this to houses that someone died in regardless of the reasons. It goes so far that there’s apps to check that this is or isn’t the case. But for obvious reasons, the biggest favor goes to buying a new house.
gaspoweredcat 7y ago
This peaked my interest, me and a few friends have visited Tokyo several times over the years and will do so many times in the future, given that i wouldnt actually need anything spectacular would it be feasible to buy a cheap old house? if its only good for 5 years itd still save on hotels etc during that time. however im not even sure if youre allowed to own a house as a foreigner
- JadeNB 7y ago
  I don't know anything about the Japanese style of home ownership, but, in the US, I'd be worried about routine maintenance on a house occupied only a few times a year, as well as the hassle of starting and stopping utilities per visit (probably hard to do from out of country).

by fiblye 7y ago

markdown 7y ago

> absurd humidity and mold problem endemic to pretty much all of coastal Asia (trying to keep your house mold-free is a losing battle after a certain point and it's unavoidable) The only place I ever read about this supposedly terrifying mould is on the internet, usually from Americans. What exactly is wrong with mould? Everyone lives in mouldy houses where I live. Going by Americans online, we should all be dead by now (if not from the mould, from touching raw chicken... the other supposed terror).

stefanfisk 7y ago
and where do you live?
- mikekchar 7y ago
  Not OP. I have to admit that my apartment in Japan is covered in mold. It makes for good cheesemaking ;-) Some people in the UK seem to be quite concerned about the health effects of mold as well. I know people who have spent tens of thousands of pounds battling it. I don't have any idea if its justified or not. I know nothing about the topic. However, I can at least verify that the people I know in Japan don't worry very much about mold growing on surfaces in the houses in the summer. You try your best to keep the house clean in the summer and then before new year you do "ousoji" (big cleaning) and clean every surface. The biggest thing about mold in our household is clothes. You constantly have to take your clothes out of storage and air them. I've had a fair amount of clothes ruined to mold and that's the biggest problem I deal with.
- markdown 7y ago
  Fiji
ZeroFries 7y ago
There's only a few strains of mould which pose a health problem for humans. I wonder if the mould in areas where it's endemic has colonized the "friendlier" strains, competing with the toxic ones, like good gut bacteria.

throw0101a 7y ago

> Compound that with the absurd humidity and mold problem endemic to pretty much all of coastal Asia (trying to keep your house mold-free is a losing battle after a certain point and it's unavoidable) and the cost and effort of repairs far outweighs the ease of just tearing it down and rebuilding. Worse than, say, the US South? Just make sure you have air and vapour tightness, with a good whole-house dehumidifier and you should be set. Good building (science) channel from builder in Austin, TX, where humidity is a thing: * https://www.youtube.com/user/MattRisinger/videos https://www.youtube.com/user/MattRisinger/videos

rangibaby 7y ago
Tokyo (for example) seems to have more extreme weather than Austin, notably it has twice as much rain on average.
- mikekchar 7y ago
  It compares a bit closer to the Carolinas I think. However, Japan has a rainy season as well (usually about mid June to end of July) where it's very humid. It usually dries out a bit in summer (August to mid October) because the temperature goes up. I remember the first year I was in Japan trying to dry my shirts on the line in the rainy season. All of my clothing was cotton based and quite a lot of it got moldy on the line! Most Japanese clothes these days have at least some synthetics in it so that it dries quicker.
fiblye 7y ago
It’s not just the inside that molds, but the outside. Going to an even more humid place like Hong Kong or Taiwan, you’ll see most buildings, bridges, signs, and virtually everything covered in a permanent cake of black mold. It’s bad around the US south, but it’s really far worse in Asia. Few structures are considered permanent.
- jdc 7y ago
  Few structures are considered permanent. Not sure if this is meant as hyperbole, how do you explain Japanese buildings built during the 7th century still standing today?

codedokode 7y ago

I might be wrong, but is not the motivation for rebuilding houses to build a larger house? E.g. replace a nice 2-floor wooden house with not so nice 9 floor house from bricks and without a garden, and later demolish it and build ugly modern concrete high-rise building?

Aeolun 7y ago

It is not only suicide or murder homes. My wife (Japanese) extends this to houses that someone died in regardless of the reasons. It goes so far that there’s apps to check that this is or isn’t the case. But for obvious reasons, the biggest favor goes to buying a new house.

gaspoweredcat 7y ago

This peaked my interest, me and a few friends have visited Tokyo several times over the years and will do so many times in the future, given that i wouldnt actually need anything spectacular would it be feasible to buy a cheap old house? if its only good for 5 years itd still save on hotels etc during that time. however im not even sure if youre allowed to own a house as a foreigner

JadeNB 7y ago
I don't know anything about the Japanese style of home ownership, but, in the US, I'd be worried about routine maintenance on a house occupied only a few times a year, as well as the hassle of starting and stopping utilities per visit (probably hard to do from out of country).