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Inside Japan’s Disposable Housing Market

psmag.com

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Re: Inside Japan’s Disposable Housing Market

#11

Post by JoeAltmaier »

pcurve wrote: post #8
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a completely different understanding of this. Buying a house, the carpets, the drapes, all have to be replaced. Because of a taboo against using things soiled by other people. No amount of cleaning can get them clean enough to overcome a taboo. Same with cars. There is apparently little/no used car market in Japan. Lots of our (USA) spare parts for economy cars come over on ships from Japan. Because, no market…

"There is apparently little/no used car market in Japan." This isn't really true. A lot of people buy used cars in Japan. Not sure how you got that information.

Huh. This link supports that view. Only 25% are exported now.

http://www.j-ucar.com/ucarmarket/

Re: Inside Japan’s Disposable Housing Market

#12

Post by pcurve »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #11
pcurve wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"There is apparently little/no used car market in Japan." This isn't really true. A lot of people buy used cars in Japan. Not sure how you got that information.

Huh. This link supports that view. Only 25% are exported now. http://www.j-ucar.com/ucarmarket/

right. 25-30% are exported. The rest are not.

Re: Inside Japan’s Disposable Housing Market

#13

Post by gherkin0 »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #7
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a completely different understanding of this. Buying a house, the carpets, the drapes, all have to be replaced. Because of a taboo against using things soiled by other people. No amount of cleaning can get them clean enough to overcome a taboo. Same with cars. There is apparently little/no used car market in Japan. Lots of our (USA) spare parts for economy cars come over on ships from Japan. Because, no market…

Japanese used cars are quite popular in other nearby left-side driving countries (Thailand, Indonesia, India, Australia) and even Russia (which is right-side but whatever). Even Japanese buildings/houses are rebuilt every N years for the newness. Might not be really sustainable.

They even make it further afield than that. I was in Peru about 5 years ago, and saw a lot of used Japanese cars. IIRC, they didn't even bother converting some from right hand to left hand drive, which is how I think I noticed.

Re: Inside Japan’s Disposable Housing Market

#14

Post by seanmcdirmid »

gherkin0 wrote: post #13
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Japanese used cars are quite popular in other nearby left-side driving countries (Thailand, Indonesia, India, Australia) and even Russia (which is right-side but whatever). Even Japanese buildings/houses are rebuilt every N years for the newness. Might not be really sustainable.

They even make it further afield than that. I was in Peru about 5 years ago, and saw a lot of used Japanese cars. IIRC, they didn't even bother converting some from right hand to left hand drive, which is how I think I noticed.

Ya, the same thing happens in Russia's far east.

Re: Inside Japan’s Disposable Housing Market

#15

Post by bane »

A fantastic resource for understanding this weird market is the "Buying a House in Japan" playlist on this youtube channel [1]

He goes through lots of this weirdness in the Japanese market as he looks to buy and restore an older home.

I suspect there's a "let's boost GDP with more construction" problem in Japan. It's resulted in lots of fantastic infrastructure, but also bizarre half-formed highways, unfinished bridges, paved over rivers and other things built way out in the countryside. [2]

1 - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE0D149A2A50898A3 2 - http://regex.info/blog/2007-03-25/403

Re: Inside Japan’s Disposable Housing Market

#16

Post by gherkin0 »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #6
eloisant wrote: post #3

"In a culture obsessed with newness" It's mostly because of earthquakes, they got used to buildings being temporary. Also sismic regulations are constantly evolving, so newer is safer (because more resistant to earthquake thanks to modern technics) and after some time it's more effective to destroy a building than do the necessary (and mandatory) work to keep up with the regulations. So no, the Japanese don't want ne…

I have a completely different understanding of this. Buying a house, the carpets, the drapes, all have to be replaced. Because of a taboo against using things soiled by other people. No amount of cleaning can get them clean enough to overcome a taboo. Same with cars. There is apparently little/no used car market in Japan. Lots of our (USA) spare parts for economy cars come over on ships from Japan. Because, no market…

> There is apparently little/no used car market in Japan.

At least historically, that's because the inspection process for keeping old cars on the road is so onerous that many people don't want to bother an just got new cars[1]. I don't know how things are now, but it sound like the inspections are still expensive[2].

[1] (90s) http://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/12/world/why-the-cars-in-japa...

[2] (more recent) http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2022.html

Re: Inside Japan’s Disposable Housing Market

#17

Post by Takizawa »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #6
eloisant wrote: post #3

"In a culture obsessed with newness" It's mostly because of earthquakes, they got used to buildings being temporary. Also sismic regulations are constantly evolving, so newer is safer (because more resistant to earthquake thanks to modern technics) and after some time it's more effective to destroy a building than do the necessary (and mandatory) work to keep up with the regulations. So no, the Japanese don't want ne…

I have a completely different understanding of this. Buying a house, the carpets, the drapes, all have to be replaced. Because of a taboo against using things soiled by other people. No amount of cleaning can get them clean enough to overcome a taboo. Same with cars. There is apparently little/no used car market in Japan. Lots of our (USA) spare parts for economy cars come over on ships from Japan. Because, no market…

There are multiple factors involved with used cars in Japan. Check this link out:

http://www.japantoday.com/category/lifestyle/view/buying-a-u...

Re: Inside Japan’s Disposable Housing Market

#19

Post by srunni »

> The current of the flowing river does not cease, and yet the water is not the same water as before. The foam that floats on stagnant pools, now vanishing, now forming, never stays the same for long. So, too, it is with the people and dwellings of the world.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C5%8Dj%C5%8Dki

Re: Inside Japan’s Disposable Housing Market

#20

Post by cgh »

gherkin0 wrote: post #13
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Japanese used cars are quite popular in other nearby left-side driving countries (Thailand, Indonesia, India, Australia) and even Russia (which is right-side but whatever). Even Japanese buildings/houses are rebuilt every N years for the newness. Might not be really sustainable.

They even make it further afield than that. I was in Peru about 5 years ago, and saw a lot of used Japanese cars. IIRC, they didn't even bother converting some from right hand to left hand drive, which is how I think I noticed.

Also BC, Canada. Those Mitsubishi Delica vans are popular because they are camperized and have four wheel drive. It's amazing there isn't another option built for the domestic market rather than having to import fifteen year old, right hand drive vehicles like these.
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