My parent's house seems to have retained a more traditional design even though it was built right after the war. Can you tell me something about modern Japanese houses and how east and west coexist?
----Shigeru
Shigeru----
Modern Japanese houses combine qualities of American suburban housing with much smaller plots and scale.
After the 1970s, there was a media boom on "maihoomushugi" or my-homeism, in which the old suburban 1950s style American lifestyle was made Japanese. People wanted their own home, and there was a new kind of togetherness culture included -- mom in the kitchen professionalizing her cooking, kids playing hi tech games, dad putting on a miniature green, even a dog romping next to the family car.
Well, you know what happened. Even if mom DID have all the latest kitchen gadgetry, like the electric bread baker, no one would be home to eat it -- kids were busy with cram classes, and dad didn't get home 'til late. And the ads showing this happy family were just a dream image.
But many homes do have a lot more people around. If grandma and grandpa are there, a house might have an addition for them, or a sort of separate apartment.
My tea ceremony teacher's old house (before they remodeled, which people are always doing) even had a teahouse in the garden, very old style. Traditional and modern sort of glide together; hard to know where one stops and the other starts.
