JAPANESE SNAPSHOTS – #31 – TILE

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, Japanese architecture — other than the shrines, temples, and the occasional super rich guy’s house — is nothing to write home about.  It’s pretty grey and bland.

Most of the structures in any urban area are three-to-five-floor apartment buildings.  They are shoehorned together like Legos.  And believe it or not, the Japanese don’t really go in for high rise living, though as housing values soar that is starting to change in some of the trendier areas of Tokyo and Osaka.

But architectural style isn’t everything.

First of all, the Japanese take really good care of their dwellings.  They might not have a lot, but what they have is always kept neat and tidy.  And we never saw what one might call tenement housing.  I saw houses that were obviously occupied by poor people, but even these were well cared for.  And ghettos are unheard of in Japan.

Almost every house we passed had a planter box filled with flowers.  And if they had a postage stamp-sized lawn, they would get on their hands and knees and clip the grass with small shears and pull the weeds by hand.

Some of the planters provided us with a mystery.  They were often surrounded by quart water bottles filled to the top, encircling the planter like soldiers on guard.  Maybe they were to water the plants, but why so many?  And why were they always full?  And why did they sometimes lay them flat like a wall around the planter?  Yet another Japanese WTF?

Interestingly, the Japanese fill their planters with the same types of flowers we buy at Home Depot in America —  geraniums were the top choice, followed by pansies,begonias, and petunias.  I expected to see more exotic flowers but the Japanese are right in step with us when it comes to decorating their homes with greenery.

Rather than cars, each home has a bike — usually several — always unlocked.

And if there is a car, it will be parked in a very narrow driveway and will always be clean and polished.  Cars are only used on weekends to escape the city.

We didn’t notice it right away, but one day when we were walking over in the Umeda section of Tokyo near the zoo, Inna said to me, “Did you notice that all the buildings are covered in tile?”

I hadn’t.

Rather than wood, concrete, or brick exteriors you will invariably find colored tile — often with some geometric pattern to accent the building’s lines.   Tile isn’t better — though from a long-term maintenance standpoint is it is undoubtedly more practical — but it is definitely more attractive.

In America, we have to a great extent abandoned craftsmanship in favor of expediency.  If it looks good it must be good.  As one of my favorite musicians, Frank Zappa, once said, “Everything we got is American made, it’s a little bit cheesy, but it’s nicely displayed.”

The Japanese take a different approach.  They build for the long term.  So, an apartment building is strong and made to last, and when they’re finished with the sturdy shell, they wrap it in tile that adds durability and beauty because that is the Japanese way.