Jan 21
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DIY and Japan-Vested interests and affiliates of contractors

By | Japanese House

The Japanese Architects Law is a national qualification enacted in 1950, and there are first-class architects, second-class architects, and wooden architects. In Japan, if you want to build a new wooden building with a total floor area of ​​more than 100 square meters, you must be a first-class architect, a second-class architect, or a wooden architect to design and supervise the construction.

Furthermore, when you ask a Japanese building material manufacturer for a product, most manufacturers say, “We can only sell it through a contractor.” As a result, ordinary consumers have less opportunity to purchase building materials directly. Building materials can be purchased at large home center such as Kohnan etc, but they are called “Pro shop” and are purchased by contractors, and the general public only has very small building materials such as shelves in Japan.

In the United States, it seems that even beams are sold at home centers. In other words, ordinary people who are not contractors can build their own homes by going to a home center for DIY. Some Americans think that even in foundation work, they can DIY with the advice of an expert, but in Japan that is completely unthinkable.

Before the Act on Architects of 1950 was enacted, carpenters did all the design and construction in Japan. I also doubt that design and construction are separate. I don’t think people who have never done construction can make a good design with just the paper on the desk. Besides, if I’m just constructing something designed by others, I don’t think the work is interesting. I think that the joy of making things should be done by the same person in both design and construction. It can be imagined that the old carpenter who was in charge of design and construction at the same time was doing creative and fun work.

I think that the Japanese Architects Law works to protect the vested interests of contractors in the name of protecting the safety of consumers. In addition, building material manufacturers and contractors seem to be affiliated and organized.

The average Japanese has a high hurdle to build their own house with DIY, and it is hard to reach, so it is unavoidable to ask a contractor to do the construction. The higher the quote of the contractor, the slower the maintenance of the building. In Japanese real estate, only land is valuable, and buildings lose their value over time. Japanese buildings are not assets. It has become clear that the cause lies in the vested interests of the Japanese construction companies mentioned above.

Jan 20
0

Construction of insulation wall

By | Japanese House

I have been introduced many properties to customers through the real estate brokerage business for over 20 years, but I did not know about “insulation”. However, by doing the wall insulation work by myself, I understood ​​what insulation is. Then, the actual conditions of heat insulation of Japanese houses became clear.

I am ashamed to say that I have not been able to correctly explain such important points to customers and provide real estate property information.

If the apartment is made of reinforced concrete, it will be very cold this winter season if it is not insulated. On the other hand, in summer, the room gets hot like a burning hell. Therefore, the air conditioner is fully rotated to adjust the room temperature. Even if you operate the air conditioner, the sensible temperature in winter changes greatly depending on the presence or absence of heat insulation.

If you do DIY construction on your house, I think that you will install insulation nearly 100% of the time. If you ask a contractor to do insulation work, it will be expensive, so if you rent a house you own to another person or sell it for sale, you will not do insulation work. Insulation construction is a tedious task for a contractor, and for rental apartment owners, the insulation work is simplified because they want to keep construction costs down.

First, studs are erected on the wall to make the wall vertical and flat. The studs are filled with foamed styrofoam or kanelite foam to a thickness of 15 mm to prevent condensation. These insulations are pressed against the concrete wall to secure it, without creating any gaps in the concrete wall. Completely cover the concrete wall with airtight tape to keep air out of the wall.

Then fill it with 50mm glass wool. In this way, I don’t think anyone has done the heat insulation construction of Styrofoam + glass wool, but I think it is a very effective construction method to prevent dew condensation.

The walls are completely airtight to prevent humid air from entering. I think this will prevent condensation even with glass wool.

Cover the glass wool with a moisture-proof sheet and secure it to the surface of the studs with an air tacker. Stick a soundproof sheet on top of it, and then screw the gypsum board onto it.

It seems that many construction shops do not want to do glass wool because it is vulnerable to condensation, but I think that it is a very good heat insulating material if it is installed correctly.

A solid insulation wall has been created.

Jan 18
0

The reality of Japanese architectural construction

By | Japanese House

Today, January 17th, is 26 years after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, January 17, 1995. I also experienced this big earthquake at my home in Osaka. This quake was the biggest quake in my life.

On January 17th of this earthquake, a concrete pillar on the Hanshin Expressway broke and rolled over.

I recently noticed when I was doing skeleton remodeling work on a Japanese apartment. It is the fact that various things that are completely unrelated to concrete are mixed in concrete. I discovered Styrofoam.

This fact is not often pointed out, I think that the reason why the concrete pillar of the Hanshin Expressway broke was that something other than concrete was mixed in the concrete.

There is a lot of “garbage” in the concrete of Japanese apartments and public buildings.

Then, the reason why “garbage” is contained in concrete is to reduce the amount of concrete. In other words, to reduce the cost of construction.

It is unlikely that Japanese ordinary person like me does DIY concrete work. As a result, such information is not known to the general public. In the case of apartments, the concrete part is not seen by the consumer. Moreover, I don’t think there are any general consumers who cut concrete and look inside the concrete.

Japanese housing is undergoing a great deal of shoddy construction work where the general consumer cannot see it. In this blog, based on my actual experience at my own site, I will clarify the reality of how Japanese housing is constructed, what materials are used, what problems there are.

Jan 02
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Customer’s “amulet”

By | Real Estate

Our customers have forgotten their “amulets” and returned to his home country, so we have considered an appropriate disposal method for “amulets”.

 

First of all, for the first six months, we offered our customers’ amulets to the Kamidana in our Dios head office in Nakanoshima Osaka.

On New Year’s Day, January 1, 2021, we visited Shitennoji Temple in Osaka for the practice of visiting a temple at the beginning of the New Year. Therefore, we prayed for the patronage of our customers in the temple, and at the same time, we put all of our customers’ amulets in the disposal box of the amulets at Shitennoji Temple.

Shitennoji is the first temple in Japan where Buddhism was introduced 1400 years ago. We participated in the monthly zazen meditation at this temple from 5 am. At this venerable Buddhist temple in Japan, we have properly disposed of our customers’ amulets.

On the same day, Dios bought a new “amulet” at Shitennoji Temple. This “amulet” is (1) the good relation with a Buddha and (2) the relation with a person. We love this new amulet very much. We will continue to raise it to our Kamidana of our Dios head office.