Quote:
Originally Posted by Nyororin
It`s my understanding that this is largely because of the massive level of bombing Japan experienced during the war. Anything that could burn, burnt. This included all the old historical buildings. There are patches here and there that made it through without being completely destroyed, but almost anywhere that could be called a town was hit.
They rebuilt with incredible speed - but housing the huge number of displaced people was the number one concern... So ugly boxes it was. They`re the fastest to build. The population boom of the 50s and 60s that followed kept the quick-housing trend going.
It`s sad to see pictures of locations prior to the bombing... And then just a couple years later with everything replaced by "emergency" housing.
These days, people are taught to be almost overly terrified of fire, so you see houses built using as little flammable material as possible. But I suppose when you hear stories of one bomb starting the fire that wiped out the entire neighborhood... Or one stove that fell over during a minor quake that destroyed 50 houses... people get scared.
as Japan has earthquakes, I will oppose putting them underground.
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Nyororin many cities and towns in Europe were just as, if not more bombed out than Japanese cities and towns. They managed to rebuild and keep the character and spirit of what was lost to bombing. Japan didn't and it's an absolute shame.
And to be honest I haven't been to that many bigger cities in Japan which would have been the main targets. Most places I've been I doubt were targets at all and still they are on the whole what I consider very ugly. For a people whose architectural heritage is one where aesthetics was so important it's a real pity that in modern times they just don't seem to care. They accept living in really ugly towns.
What really amazed me in the area I lived was that we had one of the most beautiful mountains in Japan, Mt Youtei, known as Fuji of the North. And yet so many houses, even those on sizeable blocks of land seemed to have little to no design features to take advantage of the views of this maginficent peak. Even farm houses with land all around them where there would be no restrictions on how to position the house would often barely even have a small window or two facing the mountain. It shocked me because on the whole I found the Japanese to be really into and have a connection with the natural world around them. They really seemed to love the outdoors. And yet here they have one of the more beautiful natural wonders of Japan on their doorstep and they build houses that barely even take advantage of the view at all. I just couldn't understand it. All of the newer development by foreigners in the region of course designed homes and apartments so that the views were maximised. Such consideration just didn't seem to come into it for most of the locals.