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August 15, 2024
 

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HOUSING

EDITORIALS
Nov 11, 2015
Piling scandal needs deep probe
The probe into the piling data scandal mustn't end with individual companies and workers; instead it should dig deep into the very foundation of the construction industry and get at the real root of the problem.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Oct 31, 2015
Not-so-friendly neighborhood associations
When the U.S. military took charge following Japan's surrender in 1945, one of the first things it did was ban jichikai, or community associations. The thinking was that these organizations had carried out the work of the military government at the neighborhood level and their continued existence might...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 22, 2015
Kuroda effect seen as homebuyers choose fixed-rate mortgages
Homebuyers are starting to bet that the unprecedented monetary easing of Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda will cause interest rates to rise, even as inflation stagnates well below the official 2 percent inflation target.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 10, 2015
Rich Chinese facing backlash over property prices in Vancouver, North America's costliest city
James Hankle, a software engineer in his 50s who was sporting blue jeans and a Green Party T-shirt, was trying to explain to a reporter his fix for Vancouver's runaway property prices when he was interrupted by an eavesdropping passerby: "Stop allowing people from China to buy our houses and leave them...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Oct 3, 2015
Don't be green about the charm of tatami
When we were thinking of buying a condominium, we visited several old danchi — apartments built by Japan's former public housing corporation — because they were cheap and, we thought, easy to renovate. One of the units we inspected had bedroom floors made of tatami mats, and we wondered if we could...
EDITORIALS
Sep 24, 2015
The coming crisis in housing
The government's policy on housing should veer away from encouraging new construction and focus more on developing the market for secondhand houses.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Sep 5, 2015
Score eco points for your home ground
Several months ago we had most of the windows in our home replaced, even though the house is less than 2 years old. When we had it built we ordered standard double-glazed windows with aluminum frames and sashes, thinking it would be enough, but after the first winter we realized is wasn't, so we decided...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Aug 1, 2015
Your home may be your castle, but not all of it is yours
When we were thinking about buying a condominium some years ago, we looked at older units and brand new ones, and one of our least favorite features was pebbled or fogged window glass, which was ubiquitous. Early on, when we didn't know any better, we asked a real estate agent how much it would cost...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Jul 4, 2015
Temblors in the home insurance business
When we were looking around for a financial institution for a housing loan, we found that the major ones didn't really want to talk to us, but there were plenty of other places that would.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Jun 6, 2015
Watch out for hidden hazards of buying land
When we were looking for property we consulted topographical maps prior to checking a particular piece of land in person. Understanding the elevation of a plot is important if you're buying land near the coast or along a river. In the event of flooding or a tsunami, it's obviously better to be located...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
May 30, 2015
'Japanese Homes and Their Surroundings' reveals intricacies of Edo Period architecture and interiors
"Japanese Homes and Their Surroundings" was first published in 1886, less than two decades after the Meiji Restoration, a time when Japan reopened itself to the world. But the same openness that allowed Morse to document Japanese architecture as a living tradition would soon transform the urban landscape...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
May 10, 2015
Perfect storm of factors conspires to empty Japan
While 'empty-house syndrome' may seem like a problem mostly afflicting rural Japan, it is already an issue in metropolises such as Tokyo and Osaka, and will become more so in the years to come.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
May 2, 2015
Garden states: looking good on the outside
One problem with designing your own house is that you don't necessarily know what it's going to be like until it's finished. The company we hired to build ours doesn't make model homes the way some housing companies do. It's one of the reasons we chose them, since models add to the price of the product....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 29, 2015
Tiny House documentary makes Tokyo apartments look like palaces
"Small is Beautiful" is a documentary about the TH (Tiny House) movement, the latest underground trend in housing and real estate in the U.S. In the next few years, though, TH could go mainstream thanks to a growing online community that shares information about what's on the TH market and how to actually...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Apr 18, 2015
'At Kasetsu' and the poetry of everyday life in temporary housing
Four years have passed since the evacuees displaced by the Fukushima nuclear disaster moved into kasetsu (temporary housing). Many are unable to return home as their houses are still contaminated.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Apr 4, 2015
Japan's public housing system has a shelf life
One of the most desirable properties in Tokyo is Chateau Mita, located in Minato Ward within walking distance of several embassies and Tokyo Tower and less than 10 minutes from four subway stations. The apartment building was constructed in 1964 and by 2000 there were persistent problems with plumbing...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 14, 2015
Failing to rebuild communities in Tohoku
The NHK travel program "Tsurube no Kazoku ni Kampai" ("Tsurube Toasts Families") recently aired a two-parter about the town of Watari in Miyagi Prefecture, which was devastated in the March 11, 2011, tsunami. In the series, rakugo storyteller Shofukutei Tsurube and a celebrity guest visit small towns...
Japan to revise consumption tax exemption for overseas tourists
Tourists walk through Nakamise shopping street near Sensoji Temple in Tokyo in April
Japan's tourism industry hit by cancellations after megaquake alert
A beach closed due to a megaquake alert in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, from Friday to Thursday.
Focus shifts to incoming typhoon as Tropical Storm Maria dissipates
Newly formed Tropical Storm Ampil, which is forecast to approach eastern Japan this weekend, is seen on the left side of this satellite image.
Kishida to step down in September in bid to show ‘LDP has changed’
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a news conference Wednesday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
Publisher finds surprise audience after translating history textbooks
Yamakawa Shuppansha president Takeshi Nozawa holds the publisher's textbook on Japanese history — used in high schools across Japan — alongside the new English version in Tokyo on May 23.
Economic security is about strengthening and sustaining growth, former minister says
Former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi says changes in the international balance of power, along with deepening economic interdependence, have led some countries to attempt to use their economic power to impose their will on others.
Ice bandanas, convenience store breaks: Running under Japan’s summer sun
Blistering heat is becoming a fixture of summer in Japan, but a few tweaks to your routine can make your outdoor runs bearable — if not enjoyable — until cooler temperatures return.
Japan issued its first-ever megaquake alert. What does that mean?
Naoshi Hirata (center), chairman of a committee tasked with evaluating the risk of a Nankai Trough earthquake, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
France brings down the curtain on its Olympic party with Tom Cruise and Leon Marchand
Fireworks are set off during the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics at Stade de France in Saint-Denis on Sunday.
Japan fuels U.S. LNG boom even as climate targets and impacts loom
Flaring at the Cameron LNG export terminal in Hackberry, Louisiana. Flaring, a common sight at LNG plants, is a controlled burning of gas for reasons ranging from depressurizing equipment to disposing of gas that can’t be used. The practice is a "waste of money" and negatively impacts climate change and human health, says the International Energy Agency.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’
By Thu-Huong Ha

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JNTO promotes sustainable tourism initiatives

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