I spent the day walking slowly and carefully around my neighborhood, checking the old brick and rock walls in front of empty houses and scouring the streets for damage from Monday’s earthquake. Though quite removed from the epicenter, less than five kilometers from my house, there was considerable damage: large sinkholes, collapsed houses, buckled roads, broken walls, etc. Luckily for me, and many others, the area where I live appears to be mostly unscathed.
The one thing I noticed on my patrol today was that I couldn’t tell if the cracks I was seeing in the roads and the walls and in various spaces were new or if they had always been there. While everything seemed to be in much worse condition than I remembered it being, I couldn’t say for sure if this or that pothole had always been there, or always been so deep. Most of my memories are left over from 14 years ago, when I first came to Japan. At that time, I was amazed by how well kept all of the infrastructure was and how none of the cars had rust on them. Today, though, I noticed for the first time, that the roads are getting to be in pretty bad condition and that quite a few cars are beginning to show signs of rust.
Maybe these are things I just never noticed before. Maybe they are signs that people and local governments are feeling the financial pinch.
This report was published via Actifit app (Android | iOS). Check out the original version here on actifit.io
Mono really brings out the details in those shots.
I remember back in Michigan the governor ran on the slogan that, "Its time we fix the damn roads." Well in the 50 plus years I lived there they never were fixed and they aint fixed now either lol.
BTW my daughter loves Japanese culture. She has claimed before that houses there are not built to last as opposed to the thinking here that a house should last at least 100 plus years. Is that correct?
Well, I would say it’s not that they aren’t built to last, it’s more that it costs a lot to maintain them, the houses are often subjected to a lot more natural disasters and a harsher climate (which is coupled with salty winds and rains), and there are a number of cultural factors that have led most people to rebuild rather than maintain, flip, and renovate houses. (But this is changing.)
The structures themselves are all post and beam and are generally very strong, so I would say that they are built to last, but the materials that are often used inside and outside aren’t great, so the siding and sometimes flooring, etc. needs to be replaced every ten to twenty years (which really isn’t so different from the US).
Thanks for helping make sense out of it!
Any time.
I think another issue is the large National house makers that can make houses cheaply. Again, it’s not that the buildings themselves aren’t built to last. They’re built to withstand massive earthquakes. It’s just that these large companies maximize profits by using cheaper cosmetic materials that need to be replaced more often (and this is also related to consumer behavior—needing to fix something but not wanting to choose the best option because of price and budget).
I'm glad the area you live in came out unscathed for the most part. Interesting that it's so different than you remember, maybe it's tough economic times with the roads looking in poor condition.
It’s kind of like looking in the mirror. You don’t notice how much your face has changed until you look at a picture from ten years ago (for most people, anyway).
I think I just didn’t notice the slow changes of deterioration, but at the same time, I also feel like the roads seem to suddenly have a lot more cracks. But I don’t know if I’m just imagining that or not.
There was a major earthquake here in 2007 (I think) that did a lot of damage. I came here two years later, so maybe I came right after the rebuild and since then the public works fund has been spent. Maybe that’s why a lot of the roads haven’t been maintained well.
Who knows? At any rate, people everywhere are hurting financially and the rising cost of everything coupled with a choked supply isn’t helping.
Great actfit post!!!
Thanks. It felt good to get those steps in during an uneventful vacation.