Japan Fact Of The... Week
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True seismic activity is a problem here, however the support structures of most new homes are built to withstand that. I brought up that point to a friend who is building a new home and the main reason from him and a couple others is the cost, not the safety.
Heck, there's not much different from a house falling down on you compared to a house falling into the basement anyways.
Heck, there's not much different from a house falling down on you compared to a house falling into the basement anyways.
Cool. To be perfectly honest, I don't think most nations have basements in their houses. The modern-day basement seems to be an American thing (or maybe I just feel that way 'cause I'm an American), and it seems like the idea is popular in countries which share heavy cultural ties with America (Canada, the UK, etc).
But I am surprised that Japan is not included in this. Given the limited space available in Japan, and given its substantial population, I would think that most families wealthy enough to own a house of their own would consider the investment in a basement worthwhile. While it may be more expensive than the rest of the house's building costs combined, it would give the family an additional floor -- something I would think would be really cherished by a typical family.
I'm also surprised because from an archeological perspective the Japanese are one of the earliest peoples on the planet to have built homes which were at least in part beneath ground level. (See: pit-dwellings. See: Jomon, search for "pit." See: Yayoi, search for "pit.") I mean, the idea is by no means unique -- as you can see from the long list of ancient cultures at the top of the page of the first hyperlink! -- but the Japanese were right there with 'em. Makes me a little surprised, then, to know that the basement concept fell out of favor entirely.
But having the house collapse into the basement makes clean-up so much more convenient!
I'm not sure if homes during Jomon period were built with floors beneath the ground. It's well known that temples and shrines have rudimentary underground chambers, but that is always used for the burial of the remains of important figures or artefacts. Of course burial mounds are also below the surface, but that's not really a "home".
You can more likely thank the lack of basements in Japan due to the integration of Buddhism into Japan, and probably more specifically to the Zen sect. Anyone who's been in a modern-day Japanese home (or even studied about them) will know that only the entrance (玄関/genkan) is level with the surface. In order to actually enter into the house, it is customary to take off your (outdoor) shoes, and then step up into the house. There are a lot of commonalities with this modern day practice and the philosophical separation between outside and inside inherent to Buddhist temple design.
Hence, a room protruding back into the ground would probably be considered very unclean and an undesirable space in the house to use.
Tectonics have some influence on how capable a house is to withstanding earthquakes, but most Japanese houses are built upon weight-distributing pillars (a-la temple design, and contrary to placing the roof load on entire wall spans like in American suburban design) which are not adversely compromised if a basement is present. In fact, most skyscrapers in Japan that employ similar earthquake-proofing techniques place their structural loads below the surface (eg: the basement), if only for aesthetic purposes.
You can more likely thank the lack of basements in Japan due to the integration of Buddhism into Japan, and probably more specifically to the Zen sect. Anyone who's been in a modern-day Japanese home (or even studied about them) will know that only the entrance (玄関/genkan) is level with the surface. In order to actually enter into the house, it is customary to take off your (outdoor) shoes, and then step up into the house. There are a lot of commonalities with this modern day practice and the philosophical separation between outside and inside inherent to Buddhist temple design.
Hence, a room protruding back into the ground would probably be considered very unclean and an undesirable space in the house to use.
Tectonics have some influence on how capable a house is to withstanding earthquakes, but most Japanese houses are built upon weight-distributing pillars (a-la temple design, and contrary to placing the roof load on entire wall spans like in American suburban design) which are not adversely compromised if a basement is present. In fact, most skyscrapers in Japan that employ similar earthquake-proofing techniques place their structural loads below the surface (eg: the basement), if only for aesthetic purposes.
I don't know why you would contest my claim when I provided sources which confirm it. If need be, I can pull my copy of "Japan Before Perry," a <400pp history text on Japan between 10,000 B.C. and the 1840s, and find the specific mention of pit-dwellings.
I hope you agree that a temple is not confusable semantically for a "dwelling", at least, and that if I were to find the term or ones similar to it in my text that it would be acceptable to you. Let me know if I need to / if you would like me to, or if you consider it not worth my time, yours, or both.
I have to go to the VA soon (patient @ 2pm, physician debriefing @ 1:45pm, current time = 1:10pm), so I can't do it now. Checking a few sites whilst eating my lunch (a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios) and then I'm out the door.
I hope you agree that a temple is not confusable semantically for a "dwelling", at least, and that if I were to find the term or ones similar to it in my text that it would be acceptable to you. Let me know if I need to / if you would like me to, or if you consider it not worth my time, yours, or both.
I have to go to the VA soon (patient @ 2pm, physician debriefing @ 1:45pm, current time = 1:10pm), so I can't do it now. Checking a few sites whilst eating my lunch (a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios) and then I'm out the door.
My bad, for some reason the little lines under the hyperlinks aren't showing up for me, so I didn't realize those were links. 
uzzled:
Anyway I wasn't really contesting you, just providing a counterpoint; an alternative suggestion as to the source of why basements aren't popular in Japan, present-day. Jomon was a long time ago, and there have been a few things that happened in Japan between then and now, after all.
No need to get all up in arms. :goodboy:
uzzled:Anyway I wasn't really contesting you, just providing a counterpoint; an alternative suggestion as to the source of why basements aren't popular in Japan, present-day. Jomon was a long time ago, and there have been a few things that happened in Japan between then and now, after all.
No need to get all up in arms. :goodboy:
"MY GOD HAS A BIGGER DICK THAN YOUR GOD!" (click here if you've not seen this before)
My kneejerk response to yours, i.e. my way of saying, "Yeah, sorry, I'm just competition-minded."
My kneejerk response to yours, i.e. my way of saying, "Yeah, sorry, I'm just competition-minded.
"
Fact Of The Week
Nearly all Japanese vehicles and those imported into Japan have two main safety features to remind the driver what they are doing.
1) When reversing, inside of the car will be a beeping sound to 'remind' the driver. This is similar to those installed in trucks back in North America and Europe however the beeping is inside the car, not outside.
2) When driving over 140km/hour, nearly every vehicle STILL has an auto-sensor that starts another pinging sound inside of the car. This reminds the driver that he/she is a moron for driving well over the speed limit on roads that are usually packed and very small with turns that would make you G-Lock out.
Nearly all Japanese vehicles and those imported into Japan have two main safety features to remind the driver what they are doing.
1) When reversing, inside of the car will be a beeping sound to 'remind' the driver. This is similar to those installed in trucks back in North America and Europe however the beeping is inside the car, not outside.
2) When driving over 140km/hour, nearly every vehicle STILL has an auto-sensor that starts another pinging sound inside of the car. This reminds the driver that he/she is a moron for driving well over the speed limit on roads that are usually packed and very small with turns that would make you G-Lock out.
Certainly the vast majority of Japan-made Japanese cars (Honda, Toyota, Mazda, etc), and many of the more recent imports. But there are a lot of older cars (particularly non-Japanese imports) that were manufactured for Japan but that don't have the reverse beep. Not much older, mind you; about mid-90's to early 00's models.
Another feature is that some cars that have rear-facing cameras (for displaying the back of the car on the GPS unit) also have rear-facing proximity sensors, which will automatically speed up the beeping when you come within a few inches of hitting whatever (or whoever) is behind you.
Fact of the month!
In order to buy a car in Japan, you must have a parking spot. No parking spot registered to you? Then you can't buy a car!
In order to buy a car in Japan, you must have a parking spot. No parking spot registered to you? Then you can't buy a car!
Interesting. Is this an attempt to manage the amount of cars in use with an arbitrary cap or is it an attempt to reduce congestion by making sure every car has a space it can be reliably stored?
uzzled:
It's an attempt to cut down on the amount of personal fossils fuels used as well as to make sure people don't start parking on the sidewalks like in China.
That would be pretty inconvenient. Although, I'd rather have that then people parking on their goddamn front lawns like in the States. Killing the grass is not a great way to raise property values.
andalaugh:Maybe that's just the area I'm in, though. :distressed:
Along this line, there are some cities where kei-cars (cars with tiny 660cc engines) are exempt from parking registration. Which is also partly why you see so many kei-cars (identified by their yellow license plates).
Hey, how about we don't turn this into "How to r*** and molest underage children" ok?
How do you explain our screwed up schedule for Golden Week? For those ho don't know, Golden Week is April 27 to May 6. Yea... Thursday. Having us splinter out week into a segment and still needing to deal with work. *You've been here as long as I have dude, at least on the forum. How long have you lived here though? I see your post filled with inaccuracies and outright false information such as.....
Seriously folks; don't spread bullshit here. That's not fair to those (all both of them) that are genuinly interested in REAL facts about japan, not crap you saw in some anime where a girl is filled with plant cum or what you saw in the movie Lost In Translation.
That is all.
Troll said:
How do you explain our screwed up schedule for Golden Week? For those ho don't know, Golden Week is April 27 to May 6. Yea... Thursday. Having us splinter out week into a segment and still needing to deal with work. *You've been here as long as I have dude, at least on the forum. How long have you lived here though? I see your post filled with inaccuracies and outright false information such as.....
I take it you are reading wikipedia? The Den En Toshi/Hanzomon line has been my home line for the past six years and yes they do have woman-only trains. *Thanks for trying though.Troll said:
Seriously folks; don't spread bullshit here. That's not fair to those (all both of them) that are genuinly interested in REAL facts about japan, not crap you saw in some anime where a girl is filled with plant cum or what you saw in the movie Lost In Translation.
That is all.
There's plenty of schoolgirls in uniforms to look at without needing to go for the underage children.
Besides, why are you so quick to think r*** and molest? That's rather suspicious. Just because you're in a packed train pressed up against something really cute (of proper age) doesn't mean you need to molest.
Golden week is a holiday _week_, not a day. Try things like 体育の日.
Perhaps better to say they don't all _use_ the woman-only cars. And the cars themselves are only serving that purpose from around 0700-0845 or so.
Suspicious is handing out info on how to break into schools filled with children. Go back to your mommas basement, we don't want your kind here.