By Yaqing (雅磬), Vision Times
I currently live in the urban area of Garapan on Saipan Island. The houses in the area where I live are said to have been built during the period of Japanese rule (1914/1919–1944, under the Nan’yō-chō [南洋廳], or South Seas Government). Locally, whenever these houses are mentioned, almost everyone invariably remarks with a sigh of admiration: “They were built by the Japanese. Solid as a rock.”
They are concrete houses, with considerable space between them — roughly 50 meters of open ground separating one house from another. After more than 80 years of exposure to wind and rain, typhoons and storms, the walls remain remarkably smooth and the structures solid, with hardly any obvious signs of settlement or cracking.
In China, the actual average lifetime of residential buildings in Chinese cities is around 34 years, according to various studies, including models calibrated using Weibull distributions, significantly below the 50-year design benchmark. Many buildings begin developing problems such as cracked walls, water seepage, and hollow or delaminated surfaces after only 10 or 20 years. So why have the houses built by the Japanese all those years ago managed to last so long?
Shokunin kishitsu: The Japanese craftsman’s spirit
I don’t think it was because they used any special materials. To a much greater extent, I believe it was the result of the Japanese people’s almost obsessive attention to detail, as well as a deeply ingrained cultural commitment to craftsmanship (shokunin kishitsu, 職人気質).
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To many people’s minds, when building a house, as long as the framework is sturdy and the exterior looks presentable, that’s enough. But in Japanese construction logic, every detail is important for a building’s longevity.
The proportions of cement in the mix, the density and uniformity of reinforcing steel, the gradient of the drainage system, the treatment of corners where walls meet … These are all things invisible to the outside observer. Yet when it comes to the Japanese construction workers, not only were they subject to extremely stringent standards, those standards were actually put into practice.
As of the early 20th century, Japan had already established a strict system of industrial standards, such as the Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS), with clearly defined specifications for cement, aggregates, and reinforced concrete. This ability to enforce standards gave buildings greater resilience against the effects of time.
For Japanese workers, building a house was more than just their job. It was a pursuit of professional dignity. As a matter of principle, they endeavored to carry every stage of the construction process to the highest possible standard, refusing to cut corners even in places that would never be seen from the outside.
Japanese legacy on Saipan
Despite the widespread destruction visited upon it in World War II, Saipan still retains a number of concrete buildings from the Japanese period. One example is Garapan’s “Japanese Hospital,” which began construction in 1925 and opened in 1926. It was one of the more advanced medical facilities in the western Pacific at the time and is also one of the island’s few surviving large-scale Japanese concrete structures.
Having stood through nearly a century of history, including the ravages of World War II, its main structure remains in use, having been converted into the Northern Mariana Islands Museum of History and Culture.
Another factor was their deep understanding of the environment and materials. When building houses, the Japanese placed great importance on adapting to local natural conditions and on gaining a deeper understanding of their materials’ properties, even if it meant taking a less expedient approach to construction.
In constructing concrete buildings, they were often more willing than others to take the time required for proper curing, to carefully treat waterproofing layers, and to anticipate the challenges posed by tropical humidity and typhoon conditions.
This kind of patience may produce little noticeable difference in the short term. But after 70 or 80 years, that difference has transformed itself into the word-of-mouth reputation that people still repeat today: “They were built by the Japanese.”
Of course, times have changed, and construction technology, material standards, and regulatory systems are all different today.
Yet while marveling at the durability of these Japanese buildings, I can’t help but reflect on another question: In an age when we have AI and are constantly pursuing greater speed, are we still willing to slow down, settle our minds, and devote ourselves to doing one thing well?
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