Old & New in Japan

Last week I was wandering around Tokyo on my way to classes when something caught my interest. It reminded me of the picture I took in Kawagoe, contrasting old Japan with new Japan.

Here we have another cluster of vending machines out the front of some very old homes. The street is quite busy as it links two stations, so there is a lot of foot traffic going each way.

It isn't surprising that someone is trying to take advantage of these potential customers, it is interesting to compare the age of the vending machines to the homes behind them.

On the left we have an old home that is being used as a real estate office and a new building going up next door.

You don't get newer that that!

Here's a very old house with two much newer homes nearby.

In Australia I'd expect homes to be made of brick and last for well over one hundred years. They are renovated and cared for as the house is just as much an investment as the land is.

In Japan houses are temporary, with the dozen or so minor earthquakes rattling the country each year a brick house wouldn't last so long. Homes are built to a very high standard and then, almost, never touched again. Lasting long enough to be useful until they are torn down and replaced with something much more modern.

That, I think, is why there are so many neighbourhoods with homes of oddly contrasted ages. Of course you also get planned estates where all the homes are roughly the same age, but they aren't very interesting to me and I haven't stopped to take any pictures.

How about you? Have you noticed a contrast between old and new buildings in Japan?