> They probably have the strictest earthquake codes in the world. They do now, but a lot of these old houses that nobody wants predate them. The big earthquake

> They probably have the strictest earthquake codes in the world. They do now, but a lot of these old houses that nobody wants predate them. The big earthquake-resistant building codes came in 1981 and 2000. Nobody would think anything of buying a house from 1980 in the west, but in Japan I would never do it (a large factor in the death toll of the Noto quake earlier this year was the high level of pre-1981 housing stock in the area). As newer, safer, houses start filling up the used housing stock I can totally see attitudes slowly changing.