However, regarding the lack of central heating in Japanese dwellings, I think that's a true cultural difference between Japan and America. It's strange for an American to wake up in a cold room or have to turn on the heat (or AC in summer) when we move into the bedroom after dinner--but it's equally strange to a Japanese person when they see we're heating an entire American house 24 hours/day. It some ways they're right: when the entire family is in one room watching TV or using computers, why should you waste energy heating the entire rest of the house when you could just heat one room--or even just heat up 6 or so cubic feet of space underneath a kotatsu or electric blanket?

This in part also explains why tearing down a house and building a new one is desired, as you would want the most modern earthquake proof property.

I haven't lived in a place in Japan that wasn't double glazed and central heating is not really required since most of the year heating is not required (at least in Tokyo).

Without trying to sound 'patronizing', you sound a bit like a foreigner who hasn't yet fully adapted to Japan.

No one (basically) who is involved in earthquake engineering would ever use the term 'earthquake-proof' to describe one building, much less an entire country's construction practices. Instead, we generally design buildings to not require any repair after earthquakes which occur more frequently than once per century, and design buildings not to fall down after earthquakes which occur more frequently than once per 2500 years. There is always a chance that an earthquake will occur outside of those limits, and nothing is designed to withstand those.

While you are correct in assuming that adding weight to a structure (all things being equal) will increase the seismic forces it experiences, the contribution of sound insulation to the weight of the building is pretty insignificant. And for lightweight structures it is much easier to increase their strength than to decrease their weight.

Third, earthquake resistant 'technology' [re: design practices] is not as ever-changing as you might think. While there are some examples of innovative solutions like putting water tanks at the top of skyscrapers, for low-rise structures there really isn't that much to it. If you take a 100 year old house, screw some plywood sheets between the floors, and bolt it to the foundation, then it will be 90% (estimated) as safe as a brand new house. Earthquake resistance is not so much about technology, and is more about making very sure that all of the force generated in the house can make it to the ground without breaking anything (though physicists would say that the force goes in the other direction from the ground to the structure). This means that earthquake safety is fairly proportional to the amount of time and money spent on construction, which is very much not incentivized by disposable construction.

What you generally will see is an aversion to unreinforced masonry construction -- stone or brick. Where you do see these they've generally been substantially reinforced with either internal or external metal skeletons (or you live in a region with poor building codes and the structures were erected since the last big temblor).

I'd suspect that Japanese construction methods follows engineering to some extent, but is also strongly influenced by tradition.

It is very true that there is a somewhat different conception of what housing should be like, with Japanese housing being relatively small, compact, and lightweight (though there are those heavy tile roofs on more traditional houses...). The concept of "insulation" seems to be rather unknown in Japan, which is a real shame given their energy issues (I don't know the amount to which home heating contributes to energy usage though).

I think it's a mistake, though, to conflate all this with with a lack of quality, or to dismiss the cultural differences. Granted, if you, as a European, are trying to find housing, you're going to want what you want, not what the average Japanese wants, but your post does have a whiff of condescension about it ("These poor Japanese, how ignorant they are of our superior European practices!").

[I'll note that in my experience living in Japan, it's much quieter than urban living in the U.S., despite the higher densities and relative lack of insulation, simply because people take more care to not be obnoxious. There's some noise but it's more likely to be quiet conversation on the balcony next door, or children laughing as they play, and not so much douchebag-practicing-his-electric-bass-at-3am. The urban U.S. is noisy.]

I once visited a fairly wealthy Japanese family who had a big, newly built (and very cool) house in the countryside. It was a fairly cold windy winter's day when I visited, but the whole family was sitting in a small room with multiple glass doors to the outside wide open, with the wind blowing in, huddled around a portable electric heater watching TV...

I also totally disagree with your dismissal of the kotatsu; it's a fantastic invention (right up there with bathtubs you can easily completely immerse yourself in, with a friend), and there's very little more cozy and wonderful than snuggling up under a kotatsu on a cold winter's evening.... also, cats love kotatsus!! :] [and heating an insulated 0.5m^3 space is a lot more efficient than heating a whole house!]

I am a bass player and I sometimes have to use in-ear-monitoring to stop going deaf, and it isn't the same as hearing the sound from the speaker, particularly if you are counting on the response of the amplifier + speaker combination for sound. Try telling an electric guitarist to use headphones - half of the sound they get is from the combination of amplifier and speaker and the interaction between the two (amplifier sag, speaker cabinet resonance, angle of speakers etc.)

I'm sure most of us could stand to be more considerate of our neighbors, but I'd prefer if soundproofing became common enough that we didn't really have to.

Headphones are alternative solution to receive the sound with a pile of sacrifices, with the only advantage - not disturbing neigbhours. That is not a lie, you can feel the sound.

I actually understand your point of view, but I have a strong belief it is culture influenced (see side story).

If you want to save up, go for paper-thin walls. Some, like me, would rather pay extra for the comfort.

Side story: I spent my childhood in late soviet constructed building. These had impressively thick walls inbetween rooms and flats. Sadly not sound insulated, but by a degree better of what I have seen in UK so far.

Being a music lover, I would listen to a high quality (even had some of the rare DVD-Audio disks) on East EU-acceptable/West EU-loud volume every evening.

In a contrast, last five years I have been living in UK. Fully detached houses are heavily rare, people love to save money and go for semi-detached houses with thin walls. Being polite, the best I can hope for is watch movies with just enough volume to recognise the speech. In my hometown, I could get close to cinema (sound wise) experience without stepping out of home.

You would ask why I do not watch movies in headphones?

1. As mentioned earlier, low frequency soundwaves are received by the body, not ears.

2. That would be an awkward experienced watching a movie with (girl)friends, everyone wearing headphones.

3. Comfort of not having a piece of technology attached to your body.

4. I was exposed to a greater quality sound already.

England would be a hell, if everyone had loud speakers and used them at night. So, I am thankful and respectful to english-men prefering headphones.

> If this doesn't sound crazy enough, there are a lot of carbon monoxide related deaths every winter in Japan because many people (especially elderly people) use an ancient heating system called /kotatsu/, where they burn coal under a small table that's covered with a blanket.

Umm.. Kotatsu do not produce Carbon Monoxide. They're usually electric, and you're the first foreigner I've ever seen who has complained about them. (I love them, my wife hates them because once inside, I never leave)

Carbon monoxide poisoning usually comes from eldery in older house where they use kerosene heaters (touyu) for heating. Almost all kerosene heaters have a 3-hour timer though, so it is a little safer than you make out.

Older houses did not have insulation, but insulation has been the norm for a while. I've moved several times in the Tokyo area and the apartment I've had that had thin walls was an olden wooden building that's about 40 years old now. And I'm not living in expensive places either.

I think part of it may also be that the construction companies form a strong political lobby.

Peeling wallpaper is not going to affect the structural integrity of your house.