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> This is a universal human thing I find. From everything I've read, building (and rebuilding) in Japan is much more straightforward than in the states, or oth
by TulliusCicero 3y ago
> This is a universal human thing I find.
From everything I've read, building (and rebuilding) in Japan is much more straightforward than in the states, or other Western countries.
We've invented many processes and regulations that were well-intended, meant to reduce abuse or exploitation (e.g. pollution, destroying local environment, etc) but also made it hard to build even things that are good, that we broadly want, like new infrastructure or more housing as housing prices rise.
- jwells89 3y agoCultural attachment to buildings there seems limited to traditional buildings (shrines, temples, etc), with the dominant attitude towards modern buildings being much more utilitarian. In the US we don’t have much in the way of old/storied buildings, especially in the western half of the country. Maybe that’s responsible for disproportionate attachment to modern buildings.
- TulliusCicero 3y ago> Cultural attachment to buildings there seems limited to traditional buildings (shrines, temples, etc) And even these tend to get rebuilt periodically, and are regarded as the 'same' building.
- gessha 3y agoJapan has a very natural reason to build and rebuild - earthquakes and fires. This is part of their culture. Their buildings are meant for 30 years of use after which they hold no value and need to be rebuilt based on government recommendation. [1] The government may revise this number but it stands as of recently. They have temples that have been built and rebuilt many times due to weather and nature. [2] [1] https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2014/03/31/how-tos/japans-30-year-building-shelf-life-is-not-quite-true/ https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2014/03/31/how-tos/ja... [2] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-japanese-shrine-has-been-torn-down-and-rebuilt-every-20-years-for-the-past-millennium-575558/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-japanese-shri...
- omegaworks 3y agoCalifornia suffers earthquakes and fires, yet we persist in our refusal to make our cities denser.
- ch4s3 3y agoCalifornia doesn't have 800+ years of cultural experience tearing down and rebuilding earthquake or fire damaged buildings.
- ClumsyPilot 3y ago800 years is enough time for a badger to evolve to correct behaviour through natural selection and random chance. I thought that the whole point of homo sapiens is to use intelligence and draw conclusions quickly. Maybe I was wrong.
- ch4s3 3y agoWhat does this even mean? My point is that Japanese society has a lot of old institutions and practices that accommodate rebuilding and revitalization. California was largely built up after WWII and has a lot of institutions that favor suburban development and have a status quo bias.
- yndoendo 3y agoDoesn't Japan see homes as a depreciating asset while America's economic treats homes as a persistent or appreciating investment asset? Wouldn't this be one of the big reason affluent companies and people are buying up homes in the USA and turning them into rentals? *Edit, fixed wording.
- omegaworks 3y agoYes, exactly. Our natural environment is similar, but our monetary and economic policies support different priorities.