“The Building Standards Law only sets out the bare minimum standards for builders, so it does not guarantee that a house will be entirely safe. However, during the Kumamoto Earthquake [in 2016], we also saw a clear difference in the degree of damage inflicted on houses built in different periods. According to a report by a commission of experts set up by the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry, only 5 percent of wooden houses built before 1981 in the center of Mashiki, Kumamoto Prefecture, escaped damage. This rose to about 20 percent for houses built from 1981 to 2000, and about 60 percent for houses built in 2000 and beyond. This supports the idea that if no effort has been made to add quake resistance to a house, it will collapse more easily.”