After the war, from the rubble was thrown up a slew of cheap multi-unit apartment housing which came known as “bunkajyutaku” (文化住宅).
A parcel of three exist across from my house, and I’ve watched as the inhabitants were slowly driven out by the passive-aggressive measures landlords use when direct eviction is illegal. I watched this mostly with disinterest, understanding that time moves on and the buildings have served their purpose.
My wife, though, mentioned something of importance this morning. A sign has gone up announcing construction of a 12-story mansion on the lot, and she mentioned that none of its former inhabitants have any hope of affording a unit - their previous rent was likely some 30,000 monthly. Their only choice is a desperate search for the dwindling number of remaining 文化住宅, which has been almost entirely extirpated from my neighborhood (and relocation for their mostly elderly inhabitants severs their vital neighborhood ties).
Affordable housing in my home state, California, is a perennial problem. I hope it does not become so in Kumamoto as well. Below is a photo of the soon-to-be-nonexistent 文化住宅．ー William