Corrugated iron covered homes are surprisingly common in Tokyo, particularly so in the city’s older neighbourhoods. Far from huge but hugely dangerous balconies, on the other hand, are mercifully much more unusual.
Home sweet corrugated iron home?
Photographs from a small group of islands
Hans ter Horst says
With the frequent earthquakes in Tokyo, I’m always surprised that these buildings are still standing but clearly the iron and rust must handle the shock waves well, probably really noisy in a typhoon too 🙂
Lee says
Yeah, despite their extremely ramshackle appearance, they somehow seem to handle everything that is thrown at them. Agreed, typhoons must be super noisy. Even regular rain must be pretty loud…
Squidpuppy says
As a kid, my family spent a summer month in a corrugated cabin at Shimoda. I found the sound of the rain delightful, but then, I only had to live there for a month – in the Summer. I recall typhoons being terrifying even in our solidly built homes.
There’s something iconic, nostalgic, oddly charming about these places – in a ramshackle, 1950s, pre-boom way. I find a curious nobility, earnestness, and resilience in them.
Bernadette Marchetti says
I always found rain hitting corrugated iron roofs to be soothing. It always reminds me of how I spent my summer breaks in Trinidad in the Caribbean with my mother’s family. In fact, if you remove the people and the language, you could transplant a lot of these buildings to Trinidad and they wouldn’t look out of place. The only difference is in Trinidad the walls near the roof have decorative holes for air flow and cross ventilation. That keeps the temperature down, but it’s still way too hot.
However, I’d be quite scared to go through a typhoon or hurricane in a house like that. I have too much experience with hurricanes to want to test the endurance of those buildings.
Lee says
Interesting to hear your two very interesting experiences. It has made me see such places in a very different light. Cheers! Always good to hear contrasting thoughts/experiences.
Coli says
Living out in the countryside, I see a lot of these homes a lot. I always think that they must be so uncomfortable in the summer and winter.
Lee says
I’ve noticed that there are a lot more once you leave the city. And yeah, they must be bloody awful to live in during winter and summer. Not something I’d ever want to experience, that’s for sure.
AF says
Oh boy! I can imagine someone in a hurry, after a fire, running and trying to escape through that door. That looks crazy… +_+
Lee says
Yeah, an emergency like that doesn’t bear thinking about…