Detached House in Tokyo - Does and Don'ts

[Bronson]

Shop around a lot. It will take time to find exactly what it is that you value and what you are willing to sacrifice for your budget. In terms of the market value, houses will always fall in value (some less so), but the land itself in the 23-ku retain or increase their value primarily based around:

-Proximity to train stations (10 minutes or less walk)
-Shape of the land (is it square and facing the street, or "flag-shaped" and with less sunlight)
-Flexibility of the land (areas with height restrictions or which disallow cars are cheaper)

[northSaver]

So after getting back from a trip to Kyoto I have a couple of questions / observations about detached houses in that part of Japan (and other old cities?) that don't really warrant a new thread.

1. Almost all the houses are detached, with a VERY NARROW gap in between them. WTF? Do they not have the concept of terraced or semi-detached housing there? And how the hell do they maintain that side of the house? It's too small for a person to fit, even a thin dude like me, so how do they paint that bit or, heaven forbid, replace the siding?

2. The parking spaces at the front are super-tight and there are literally millimetres of space between the car and one or more sides. Is everyone just superhuman at parking cars down there or do they accept that they're going to scratch it every now and again? Can't imagine my wife lasting more than a day without a scratch. Me, maybe a month I guess newer cars with parking sensors would help a bit?

[Moneymatters]

So after getting back from a trip to Kyoto I have a couple of questions / observations about detached houses in that part of Japan (and other old cities?) that don't really warrant a new thread.

1. Almost all the houses are detached, with a VERY NARROW gap in between them. ...

2. The parking spaces at the front ..

1. Even if you are on good terms with your neighbors don't jokingly offer to wash their windows where they line up. I learned first hand that's a big no-no apparently.
We have limited space on one side of our house. Yet they still managed to install scaffolding and then climb it to repaint / caulk that side. Although I'm not even sure it needed weather proofing having such little exposure to weather. so the answer to your question is basically just small, slim and lithe construction staff.
The typical construction methods(wood) for houses don't lend themselves to Semi-detached building. Although I have seen some Townhouse (terraced) that I think are wood construction and for sale. Still rare.
Basically, people won't want to be dependent on others for decisions on when to rebuild/refurbish etc. and the sound proofing will be rubbish.

There are many reasons for small plots. such as. Splitting up older larger lots to make more money. People only wanting to buy the amount of land they need. The cost is prohibitive, not so much the ongoing property tax but the initial purchase. This means even in remote areas you'll sometimes see houses huddled together with endless space around them..

2. Sensors help only if the are visible and color coded on a screen. Otherwise it's just one long beeeeeeeeeep.
As for how we manage. We adapt. We overcome. I park like a surgeon compared to how I drove before moving here.
Even in an empty carpark I'll redo things for practice if I think i can be better aligned.
That said, my better* half did try to remove the front wing of one of our previous cars when leaving our parking space so accidents do happen.
The good news. My latest car can do self parking (paralell and bay) so we'll soon not need to worry about such things for much longer...

* Self appointed title.

Of course, you've just reminded me how grim my future is knowing that my partner's elderly parents car has more kill markers on each corner than any car should have. Some are from scraping walls but most are from other cars based on the various colors...
I don't know which of them is most responsible as I refuse to be driven by them.
But if pushed, I'd say the mother displays more of the narcissistic tendencies I'd associate with a German WWI flying ace.
Well. That and her extensive library on Baron von Richtofen..

[northSaver]

1. Even if you are on good terms with your neighbors don't jokingly offer to wash their windows where they line up. I learned first hand that's a big no-no apparently. ...

Fantastic and entertaining answer as usual MM. Thank you for typing all that! Yeah, I figured it was something to do with using as much of the expensive land as possible, and maybe earthquake and noise considerations regarding shared walls. Still, it's really weird to see for someone from the UK who now spends most of his time in Hokkaido. Even expensive Sapporo has ample space between the houses as far as I remember.

Your car must have amazing technology if it can self-park in those impossibly tight spaces without scraping anything. Just wow! It would be essential for us I think if we ever moved to Kyoto. Not as far-fetched as it seems now that our son lives there, and the city is growing on me despite the hoards of tourists in some areas. The spring weather was amazing compared to here