Opinion A Fresh Look At Housing By DAVID ZOPPETTI	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
家に対する新しい見方 家に対する新しい見方 長年、日本に暮らし、 日本人の考え方に親しんできた筆者も、 最近の家相ブームには驚いている。 健康や幸せが家相で決まるという考え方が 不思議に思えるからだ。

Real estate prices in Japan are on the decline. Interest rates for housing loans are at all-time lows, and the government recently introduced attractive mortgage-related tax cuts. As a result, land purchase and housing development are increasing significantly.

What surprises me is how many people still believe in "kaso."

This intriguing science of house physiognomy or orientation beliefs has to do with the proper geographical orientation of your house and the disposition of the rooms in it. Good kaso will bring your family good health and happiness, whereas ignorance of or disregard for these rules will invite disaster and bad fortune.

For instance, if your toilet is on the northeast "kimon" side, someone will suffer from an incurable disease, and any type of enterprise is bound to fail. Having the main entrance door on the east brings money, friends and good luck into the house, but a kitchen on the southern side will negatively influence your promotion in life.

To the average Westerner, all this sounds about as convincing as the far-fetched messages in cheap fortune cookies. However, a survey showed that one out of two Japanese still relies on kaso when buying or building a house. Housing exhibits often offer kaso counseling services and books on the subject sell as well as diet video tapes in the United States.

To my knowledge, there are no such beliefs in my home country of Switzerland. There might have been housing-related superstitions in the remote countryside in the past, but rationalistic Cartesian thinking has long since banned them from our common subconscious.

So why is kaso still so big in Japan?

First of all, although Japan appears to be a highly Westernized society, I believe that deep inside it still has strong emotional ties with its Asian identity. Secondly, owning one's house ("mai homu") in this country is a dream that goes far beyond what the average Westerner would imagine. It is not surprising therefore that people should wish to seek all possible guarantees for their happiness and safety once this dream is fulfilled.

Is kaso mere superstition? I wouldn't dare to make a final judgment, but two things come to mind.

A) Kaso requires space. Drawing out a plan for a house that respects all the kaso parameters in a city like Tokyo is close to impossible. Why not use this as an excuse to move out from the crammed cities to the countryside and learn how to enjoy another kind of lifestyle?

B) I feel that a lot of problems youth face in this country (school dropout, bullying, juvenile suicide, violence, etc.) are related to a lack of communication between parents and children and to an absence of basic family ties. Kaso is fine with me. But I think we should mostly emphasize building houses where there is more communication between all members of the family. And this is not a question of room disposition...

Shukan ST: May 28, 1999

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