<i>"In a culture obsessed with newness"</i><p>It's mostly because of earthquakes, they got used to buildings being temporary.<p>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.<p>So no, the Japanese don't want new houses because it's shiny and they're bored of the old ones.
A fantastic resource for understanding this weird market is the "Buying a House in Japan" playlist on this youtube channel [1]<p>He goes through lots of this weirdness in the Japanese market as he looks to buy and restore an older home.<p>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]<p>1 - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE0D149A2A50898A3" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE0D149A2A50898A3</a>
2 - <a href="http://regex.info/blog/2007-03-25/403" rel="nofollow">http://regex.info/blog/2007-03-25/403</a>
I dont think its as bad as it sounds now. Oh btw my wife is Japanese, and were currently living in Yokohama. Now there is a taboo againt house from the early 80's(ill have to check with her for the exact date), as there were different building laws in relation to earthquakes.<p>Also a lot of the houses that are built with wood are undesirable -earthquakes, fire risk etc. We just rented a fairly good sized wooden apartment at quite a bit under market rates.<p>My point being there is a lot of new houses going up which are built to seemingly higher standards, which people want, conpared to say my Japabese grandparents house, which shakes if i move too quickly through it.<p>I do believe the trend is startibg to switch around though, as more houses become available in the "higher quality" bracket. (Note: i dont necessarily agree with the quality perceptions, im more of a case by case kind of guy).<p>One last thing someone mentioned about second hand cars: There really is a stigma, we had a mild argument about that the other day haha. I want a used card (around 4k aud), she wants a new one(12k aud). For shopping -.-
> 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.<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C5%8Dj%C5%8Dki" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C5%8Dj%C5%8Dki</a>
There's a very tiny band of people buying old "Minkas"[1] and restoring them. My Japanese friends recently moved into one, and it's amazing. Here is an English article on the subject[2].<p>[1] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minka" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minka</a><p>[2] <a href="https://spikejapan.wordpress.com/miscellany/" rel="nofollow">https://spikejapan.wordpress.com/miscellany/</a>
Australia has a phenomenon called 'removal homes', where you'll buy a house on one plot of land and ship it, intact, somewhere else.<p>Example:<p><a href="http://www.atlashouseremovers.com.au/" rel="nofollow">http://www.atlashouseremovers.com.au/</a>