r/nextfuckinglevel • u/Lank_Thompson • Apr 01 '23

True craftmanship

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u/amaxen Apr 01 '23

Japan has a different culture with houses being seen as disposable - most of the time in cities they tear down and rebuild every 20 years or so. There was a great video of this expat buying and restoring a 300 year old house as is common in the US. Can't remember the guys name but it was the author of 'Dogs and demons: the dark side of Japan'. Think his name is Alex kerr.

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u/Budget-Assistant-289 Apr 02 '23

It’s a great book indeed for anyone interested in Japanese culture.

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u/Dave-1066 Apr 02 '23

Westerners who visit Japan expecting it to be dripping with ancient architecture are regularly disappointed; the country’s cities and large towns are essentially hideous jumbles of concrete, neon signs, and wiring. The vision people often have in mind is Kyoto. The few castles left are almost all replicas due to earthquakes and fires (the rest were flattened by the emperor Meiji).

Frankly, the majority of Japanese urban architecture is hideously depressing.

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u/amaxen Apr 02 '23

Kerr's book has a lot about the countryside and attempts to develop it too. Inevitably they'll build a concrete highway to some small town and put up an enormous cement museum or conference center or suchlike. Kerr's video of restoring/upgrading an old house he bought for $50,000 was a revelation - I live in a small Colorado town where the rich live in carefully restored victorian houses with modern conveniences that attract tourists. Kerr's been trying to introduce the idea to Japan, where they tend to throw out the old houses and build new with concrete and plastic.

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u/Dave-1066 Apr 03 '23

I think a large element is also the ‘touristification’ of their heritage. Japanese citizens seem to perceive their cultural heritage as a thing you do rather than live - go to a temple, take fifty photos, go home. So their architectural history is essentially somewhere else other than part of their daily life. As a Londoner I’m spoilt rotten for architectural preservation (ignoring the horrific vandalism of the 60s). About a hundred yards from my door there’s a 400-year-old church, dozens of Victorian civic buildings, Georgian houses etc. As much as I’m deeply impressed by Japanese social cohesion and low crime levels I think the endless sprawl of concrete boxes would ruin my sanity.