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You don't recognize them. Even the most budget builder, say your prefecture's Co-op builder, will use pre cut framing. Our builder, Hinokiya, used factory buil

You don't recognize them. Even the most budget builder, say your prefecture's Co-op builder, will use pre cut framing. Our builder, Hinokiya, used factory built frame pieces. The article's photos of prebuilts is misleading. The majority of prebuilding in Japan is about factory built framing, precut beams, and unit baths. You'll not notice these homes, because they look the same as everything else. More over: most homes have something prebuilt. Near every bath in every home is a unit bath.

porknubbins 6y ago
Does factory built frame pieces mean like pre assembled walls? I watch a lot of construction youtube and timber is generally pre cut and trusses pre assembled so I can’t see how it would speed up much.
- vineyardmike 6y ago
  You can build in the rain or snow if you're building in a factory. You can also work longer due to easier shift work.
  - bluGill 6y ago
    Having been in construction site works longer in many cases. When the tradesman has to travel 1 hour to the site, he is going to want to work long hours to get done sooner. (2 12 hours days is = 3 8 hour days). We worked that job because we knew if we refused the builder would find someone else who would - and then we wouldn't get the jobs closer to home either. This depends greatly on the crew. Some are more willing to work long hours than others.
m4rtink 6y ago
The prefab baths (at least those in Japanese hostels) are superb! Basically no seams where dirt could accumulate and mold grow, robust ergonomic and well thought out furnishings, splashproof doors and lighting. European accommodations of similar price category have much worse & more dirty bath facilities in comparison.
- Aeolun 6y ago
  But really, the absolute best part is the button that you can press that means: “Please fill up my bath with water at 42 degrees celcius”. I’ve stayed in a lot of fancy hotel rooms, and my single biggest frustration is that my house has a better bath than literally all of them.
  - Tor3 6y ago
    Yep, and then there's (at least at our home there..) a nice voice telling you that now it's just about ready, and a bit later that it's ready.
  - m4rtink 6y ago
    And there we are in Europe without even a simple mechanical thermostic armatures being considered standard... Oh well I guess we should be hape we have at least lever control now and not two separate knobs like before.
greggman3 6y ago
My definition of "unit bath" must be different than yours. A unit bath for me is something I find in a small single room apartment in Japan. It's got the sink, tub, and toilet in the same room almost all entirely molded from one piece. AFAIK that is not the norm in Japanese houses. A house would like have a toilet in one room, sink in separate room, bath in a 3rd room, and that bath is is about the size of 2 American bathtubs. One area of the tub, and one for watching (a wet floor). AFAIK that's the norm in a Japanese "house" as well as most modern 2 bedroom or larger apartments. Smaller and/or older places have a "unit bath" (I lived with one for 6 years but my current place has everything separate)
- presentation 6y ago
  My first apartment was that kind of unit bath, but my current apartment has a separate sink and toilet, but the bath is definitely one manufactured piece of plastic that contains the full shower area; my wife's mom's house, and my friend's house are both the same, so I figure it's pretty common.
- fomine3 6y ago
  "unit bath"/ユニットバス is originally meant just prefab bathroom. But now it tend to mean bath/toilet is in same room.
- Tor3 6y ago
  A lot of apartments and houses were built in the area where I used to live in Japan (and will, again, when we can travel again). So I got to see the progress every morning when I walked the dog. As far as I could tell nearly all the new houses and apartments got their bathrooms as a "unit bath", there would be a truck parked nearby and the bath transported as a unit directly from the truck and brought inside. Talking about prefab, it's supposed to go faster (and that's normally the case), and time is money (more or less so, depending on where you live), but in Japan I once saw a two-story eight-apartment building being raised and completed in less than 7 weeks. Not prefab, not completely anyway - they obviously used modules where the could. But you could still see walls etc. being built the "normal" way. It was built on what used to be a field, I walked past it every morning when walking the dog. First they put up the (now mandatory I believe) steel framing, then they continued building it piece-by-piece. Floors, wall, roof, solar panels on the roof, doors, windows, plumbing, air conditioners/heating, painted tarmac parking area outside (with two allotted spaces for each apartment), a little roofed area to park bicycles, garbage bin area (again roofed), and cleanup. Less than seven weeks. It's the most astonishing thing I've ever seen when it comes to building not being fully prefab (the exception was the baths - they were installed as units). During the same period a slightly larger apartment building was set up in my home country, near my home there, it took nearly two years and when they were finished it still looked shabby and unfinished outside - no tarmac, no grass, leftover stuff everywhere. Took forever to get that cleaned up. So, why did it go so extremely fast in Japan? Logistics. Everything arrived on site exactly when it should. Nothing stopped. When stuff for the roof arrived there was already a conveyor belt set up to transport it up to where it was needed. Nobody had to wait for someone else to finish what they were doing. Nothing stopped. They worked Saturdays too, but they didn't work evenings. It was just all incredibly efficient. The someone who worked out the logistics for that project.. I've never seen anything like it.

porknubbins 6y ago

Does factory built frame pieces mean like pre assembled walls? I watch a lot of construction youtube and timber is generally pre cut and trusses pre assembled so I can’t see how it would speed up much.

vineyardmike 6y ago
You can build in the rain or snow if you're building in a factory. You can also work longer due to easier shift work.
- bluGill 6y ago
  Having been in construction site works longer in many cases. When the tradesman has to travel 1 hour to the site, he is going to want to work long hours to get done sooner. (2 12 hours days is = 3 8 hour days). We worked that job because we knew if we refused the builder would find someone else who would - and then we wouldn't get the jobs closer to home either. This depends greatly on the crew. Some are more willing to work long hours than others.

m4rtink 6y ago

The prefab baths (at least those in Japanese hostels) are superb! Basically no seams where dirt could accumulate and mold grow, robust ergonomic and well thought out furnishings, splashproof doors and lighting. European accommodations of similar price category have much worse & more dirty bath facilities in comparison.

Aeolun 6y ago
But really, the absolute best part is the button that you can press that means: “Please fill up my bath with water at 42 degrees celcius”. I’ve stayed in a lot of fancy hotel rooms, and my single biggest frustration is that my house has a better bath than literally all of them.
- Tor3 6y ago
  Yep, and then there's (at least at our home there..) a nice voice telling you that now it's just about ready, and a bit later that it's ready.
- m4rtink 6y ago
  And there we are in Europe without even a simple mechanical thermostic armatures being considered standard... Oh well I guess we should be hape we have at least lever control now and not two separate knobs like before.

greggman3 6y ago

My definition of "unit bath" must be different than yours. A unit bath for me is something I find in a small single room apartment in Japan. It's got the sink, tub, and toilet in the same room almost all entirely molded from one piece. AFAIK that is not the norm in Japanese houses. A house would like have a toilet in one room, sink in separate room, bath in a 3rd room, and that bath is is about the size of 2 American bathtubs. One area of the tub, and one for watching (a wet floor). AFAIK that's the norm in a Japanese "house" as well as most modern 2 bedroom or larger apartments. Smaller and/or older places have a "unit bath" (I lived with one for 6 years but my current place has everything separate)

presentation 6y ago
My first apartment was that kind of unit bath, but my current apartment has a separate sink and toilet, but the bath is definitely one manufactured piece of plastic that contains the full shower area; my wife's mom's house, and my friend's house are both the same, so I figure it's pretty common.
fomine3 6y ago
"unit bath"/ユニットバス is originally meant just prefab bathroom. But now it tend to mean bath/toilet is in same room.
Tor3 6y ago
A lot of apartments and houses were built in the area where I used to live in Japan (and will, again, when we can travel again). So I got to see the progress every morning when I walked the dog. As far as I could tell nearly all the new houses and apartments got their bathrooms as a "unit bath", there would be a truck parked nearby and the bath transported as a unit directly from the truck and brought inside. Talking about prefab, it's supposed to go faster (and that's normally the case), and time is money (more or less so, depending on where you live), but in Japan I once saw a two-story eight-apartment building being raised and completed in less than 7 weeks. Not prefab, not completely anyway - they obviously used modules where the could. But you could still see walls etc. being built the "normal" way. It was built on what used to be a field, I walked past it every morning when walking the dog. First they put up the (now mandatory I believe) steel framing, then they continued building it piece-by-piece. Floors, wall, roof, solar panels on the roof, doors, windows, plumbing, air conditioners/heating, painted tarmac parking area outside (with two allotted spaces for each apartment), a little roofed area to park bicycles, garbage bin area (again roofed), and cleanup. Less than seven weeks. It's the most astonishing thing I've ever seen when it comes to building not being fully prefab (the exception was the baths - they were installed as units). During the same period a slightly larger apartment building was set up in my home country, near my home there, it took nearly two years and when they were finished it still looked shabby and unfinished outside - no tarmac, no grass, leftover stuff everywhere. Took forever to get that cleaned up. So, why did it go so extremely fast in Japan? Logistics. Everything arrived on site exactly when it should. Nothing stopped. When stuff for the roof arrived there was already a conveyor belt set up to transport it up to where it was needed. Nobody had to wait for someone else to finish what they were doing. Nothing stopped. They worked Saturdays too, but they didn't work evenings. It was just all incredibly efficient. The someone who worked out the logistics for that project.. I've never seen anything like it.