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Another lurker here, with a previously unacknowledged appreciation for this thread, which I've enjoyed in its entirety. Didn't want to add clutter with a boring compliment, until happening on this older piece in the Guardian newspaper. It adds some explanatory context to the Japanese housing scene which our O.P. has occasionally hinted at. Many thanks, Kuro Neko.
Having lived in Japan and Korea for 4 years and 3 years respectively, building construction seemed lacking in many areas. The windows and doors, for example, are nothing like those in northern Europe (and especially Germany and Scandinavia) or even those in the US. As you might notice in photos in the Guardian article, Japanese residential and commercial building use raw aluminum frames (and single pane glass sliders). If one looks energy costs in Asia and Europe, one wonders why the Japan and Korea would waste so much money on heating and cooling without seeking better sealing and insulation. If, indeed, homes have only a 30-year life span, than hopefully more energy-efficient codes will be put in place for the future.
I just discovered this thread. Wow. I visited Japan once on business in 2018; spent two weeks in Tokyo (Hachioji). It was fantastic. Now that I've retired, a longer return trip is on my bucket list. Thanks for the pictures and stories, they are fantastic.
Hachioji is just the right spot between Tokyo and ruralness.
Thanks for the comment!
Rent a car if you do get back?
Originally Posted by The Duke
I have recently started following your thread and have not yet commented. There is an "out of time" quality to your photos - neither sixties/seventies or today - that draws me to them. Your Cayman is nice, too, of course. :-)
Neat, and possibly just because I shoot film and like Showa-era buildings and stuff?
As mentioned before, everyone knows what a speeding shinkansen looks like, and there are only so many fake tinted neo-Tokyo Insta photographs you can look at.
I try to add a bit more of real Japan...
No feeble pleading of 'please subscribe and comment' here.
Originally Posted by Porphil
Another lurker here, with a previously unacknowledged appreciation for this thread, which I've enjoyed in its entirety. Didn't want to add clutter with a boring compliment, until happening on this older piece in the Guardian newspaper. It adds some explanatory context to the Japanese housing scene which our O.P. has occasionally hinted at. Many thanks, Kuro Neko. Raze, rebuild, repeat: why Japan knocks down its houses after 30 years | Cities | The Guardian
Indeed! Well summarized piece there, and with Covid-19 many Japanese are now also discovering the benefits of old homes for renovation.
Cost effective, and with charm not available from the flat-packed pre-fabbed blandness of modern stuff.
Mind you, in the late 1800s (when our house was built), there was likely the same feeling of sameness (thatch! shoji! tatami!), and the onset of the Taisho-era and European influences must have been out-worldly.
Check out YT alone for countless new channels of people minka hunting and reforming.
Coincidentally, on our recent tour North, we called in on one such family, and details to follow...
Originally Posted by TEF
Having lived in Japan and Korea for 4 years and 3 years respectively, building construction seemed lacking in many areas. The windows and doors, for example, are nothing like those in northern Europe (and especially Germany and Scandinavia) or even those in the US. As you might notice in photos in the Guardian article, Japanese residential and commercial building use raw aluminum frames (and single pane glass sliders). If one looks energy costs in Asia and Europe, one wonders why the Japan and Korea would waste so much money on heating and cooling without seeking better sealing and insulation. If, indeed, homes have only a 30-year life span, than hopefully more energy-efficient codes will be put in place for the future.
Curiously, one of the biggest issues in our near-130 year old minka is not the tatami floors, or thatch roof, but the aluminum framed, single pane glass windows installed to 'modernize' in the 1970s.
Though the previous amado (storm shutter) and shoji (paper screen) combination was hardly weather proof (no glass at all), it did allow for segregation of spaces.
There's nothing worse than breezy single-pane glass and heat-sucking aluminum frames.
One day we hope to replace with double-glazed wood frames, which would also match the overall look of the building.
In the meantime, and before we start our recent journey North, here's some stuff on a similar theme from a day trip across our our local prefecture:
As commented, our reformed kura which we added double-pane glass and new insulation as we converted it from 1880s' rice and goods storage to a livable space for guests.
Local town - Otaki - and similarly reformed traditional building.
Friend's C4 and yet to be reformed building.
Though, other than the sign, this one could like see a Komatsu instead.
Properly done, the Meiji- and Taisho-era stuff is very livable.
After lunch, we decided to explore the long way home, and on one nice country road, we came across this nihonshu brewery.
The owner explained his family had been making nihonshu (sometimes known as 'sake' in the West - which just means 'alcohol'), since the early 1800s.
Using the pure water from a local mountain spring, they produce a number of award winning variations.
Additionally, the owner - Sammy - speaks English, and he and his wife are delightful; carefully taking the time to explain their range, and suggesting the best options for our taste.
Their website details their history, range, and we went away with a few bottles, including some nice, dry, dai-ginjo.
If you're looking for a destination on a tour, Koshigoi in Boso Hanto is a good start...
We are not sure why, but more rice this year has been harvested and dried with traditional methods.
The last few years, under Covid-19, have seen more planted than typical, so there might be a shortage of harvesting machines, an increase in their price, or as always some variations of rice are handled differently for different use.
We had some hardware needs, so stopped off at a Power Komeri, and while two Porsche loading material might be somewhat curious, these guys buttoning down their trunk lid certainly was.
Especially as they were registered in Tokyo, a few hundred km round trip.
No idea what it is, but possibly an Austin Seven boat tail speedster?
This Meiji-era house had a pink Taisho-era annex, and it must have looked unfeasibly modern when built around the turn of the 1900s.
Our last stop, before we started the return leg, was for some drinks at a Japan Agriculture (JA) yard.
Thanks!
Feel free to ask questions if you're planning a trip to Japan, or just curious...
With the States of Emergency being lifted across Japan, we planned to take some time off and hit the road for a serious tour.
This time, North through Ibaraki, Tochigi, Fukushima, Yamagata, Akita, and Aomori, then South through Iwate, Fukushima and home again.
Eight days of touge hunting, ryokan stays, in-room dining, and spectacular sights included.
Our first stop was with some new acquaintances, who have taken over an old Japanese home and have reformed it over the last two years.
This is some details of their journey in video form, and it makes a nice companion to our minka journey over the last eight years.
We sat in their reformed kitchen with some glorious home-brew coffee and snacks, and marveled at the transformation from the place they took over two years ago.
Another excellent example of how to make an older Japanese home livable, with no need to destroy and waste.
In Ibaraki-ken too, we spotted this older thatched roof minka, now a museum unfortunately closed for Covid-19.
Hitting the road, we need to make haste as our first night away from Boso Hanto and our minka was in Iwaki, in Fukushima-ken.
The clear expressways were needed allowing maximum allowable speed, as opposed to our usual preference to use the lower roads...
On the way to our seaside hotel, we drove through Iwaki-shi's love hotel town, and with some hotels now closed, it looked rather dire and not the place I would want to take my love interest.
Unless they were of course into horror movies, and creepy night scenes in abandoned buildings.
The view from our hotel room the next morning, teased the coast road we would take before we turned inland.
Expressway roadworks, on the run back into the mountains.
Our next night was planned at Narukoonsen, in the mountains of Miyagi-ken...
Boring conference call means time to load some pics...
I like abandoned gas stations.
One of the many touge we enjoyed in Miyagi-ken.
Well-maintained, near empty roads, with great views.
Lots of second gear corners, with short up-shifts into third, and down again.
The new PDK position sensor was getting a good test.
Minka and kura in the mountains.
With a lot of snow, the buildings come with a variety of protection measures.
I also like closed not-abandoned gas stations.
Off one little shopping street this Hakosuka Skyline and Cedric made a nice period Nissan collection.
The '432' plate is an acknowledgment to the four-valved, triple-carb, twin-cam of its racing-derived S20 equipped GT-R sister.
Your extensive travels in rural Japan stands in great contrast to stereotypical footage of, say, Tokyo's Shibuya crossing. In fact, you should consider a coffee-table book entitled "The Other Japan". Frankly, as a foreigner you've seen more of the Japan outside of the urban areas than the majority of Japanese. I recall when speaking to Japanese about driving any distances and they would never consider any road trip of a 100 miles or more. Therefore, your photos would probably be of interest to many Japanese who have no idea of what rural Japan looks like. In any events, your photos are great.
Many thanks for the link to the "abandoned house" video. That evoked all sorts of nostalgia for my childhood in Japan in the early 1950s. I have subscribed to Tokyo Llama, and my wife and I are marching through all of his videos. Wow...just wow.
Your extensive travels in rural Japan stands in great contrast to stereotypical footage of, say, Tokyo's Shibuya crossing. In fact, you should consider a coffee-table book entitled "The Other Japan". Frankly, as a foreigner you've seen more of the Japan outside of the urban areas than the majority of Japanese. I recall when speaking to Japanese about driving any distances and they would never consider any road trip of a 100 miles or more. Therefore, your photos would probably be of interest to many Japanese who have no idea of what rural Japan looks like. In any events, your photos are great.
Thanks! We've driven the full length of Honshu, and the Shinagawa (main license center of Tokyo) plates get continual comments, with some locals snapping furtive photographs.
You are right, while many locals take the train, few drive.
Originally Posted by SCMike
Many thanks for the link to the "abandoned house" video. That evoked all sorts of nostalgia for my childhood in Japan in the early 1950s. I have subscribed to Tokyo Llama, and my wife and I are marching through all of his videos. Wow...just wow.
They're a great team (and one of three or four we know who are reforming old houses), and we too are watching their journey.
Back on the road, we drove off further into the mountains of Miyagi-ken.
Here, we stopped at a little village and shrine known for their kokeshi (wooden dolls).
Mid-week, with only a few tourists about, it was very pleasant to walk the quiet streets.
Two trunks of clothes, cameras and film, omiyagi, and Shinagawa plates, somewhere in Iwate-ken on the way North...
Relative to your extensive road trips, most Japanese haven't seen a fraction of Honshu and Shinagawa.. Even truckers, with long-haul routes often put their vehicles on ferries rather than driving. For a country extremely dependent on domestic sales of Japanese-made vehicles, many are driven less than 10k miles before they are traded in the face of the dreaded shaken, And hence more vehicle sales.
Once again, thanks for your informative (and visually evocative) postings.
Relative to your extensive road trips, most Japanese haven't seen a fraction of Honshu and Shinagawa.. Even truckers, with long-haul routes often put their vehicles on ferries rather than driving. For a country extremely dependent on domestic sales of Japanese-made vehicles, many are driven less than 10k miles before they are traded in the face of the dreaded shaken, And hence more vehicle sales.
Once again, thanks for your informative (and visually evocative) postings.
Yes, apart from a few long distance routes, like Osaka - Tokyo, most haulage is hub-and-spoke.
With huge logistics centers used to handle the transfer and distribution, which is very effective.
Trains are rarely used here for goods, but instead for passengers - where they are possibly the best in the world.
Accordingly, and with car ownership falling, tourists congregate in train accessible destinations, a pity because there is so much more than the Shibuya Crossing and the Golden Temple in Japan.
Behind one little temple, we stopped for a drink beside this pond.
Mountains, soon to be explored.
Small shopping street.
Another day, and some blue skies.
The rice, this far North, had yet to be harvested.
Interrupting our tour North, with some pics from Sunday at Daikoku Futo.
The first Sunday after the 18 States of Emergency lifted across Japan, so we expected some interesting cars.
Early morning start with clear skies and roads.
Living off this one touge under Covid-19 will be missed...
Fast run to the Tokyo Wan Aqualine.
South on the Wangan, and past the point where some nutter killed two innocents with his GT3 flat-out.
I'll not link to the ghastly YT clip, but its a sobering reminder as to why we do not race on public roads.
A friend once commented the PA was like 'dating for cars', with drivers typically parking in like groups.
So, I had to make a white group here with the Cayman.
A friend used to have an L88 Stingray, so I always like these.
Apart from the needless extra bling added to the headrests, the 412 is one cool machine.
Retrimmed and refurbished C4 Targa.
More to follow as I process pics...
I'm hosting my parents for a couple months and have been really itching to finish my current roll and do some car tinkering, but I'm too busy and exhausted, haha. But not too busy to catch up! The Alcantara on the 964 is interesting. Did it look well-done? Feel like that can look sketch if done poorly or if "mistakes were made" during install.
Originally Posted by Kuro Neko
I like abandoned gas stations.
Ditto! Sadly I have to drive pretty far to find any, like this one near Anza-Borrego. The contrast of a clean car and an abandoned, rusty gas station somehow complement each other.
Ditto! Sadly I have to drive pretty far to find any, like this one near Anza-Borrego. The contrast of a clean car and an abandoned, rusty gas station somehow complement each other.
I'll play (not to hijack this awesome thread) but....
09-29-2021, 03:54 PM
Japanese Housing
