Changes in House Maintenance and Management after World War II

— An Examination of the Women’s Magazine KURASHI NO TECHO —

Abstract

  In this study, changes in resident-led house management from the post-World War II period to the present are traced, with a focus on residents’ management behaviors and related components, with the aim of informing future management method. To this end, articles on housing and housework published in KURASHI NO TECHO from 1948 to 2023 were reviewed and analyzed.

  Although resident-provided, consumer-oriented information continues to be shared, the purpose of house management has changed over time, with a tendency for its scope and focus to become narrower and more limited. To achieve sustainable home management that enables long-term use, it is essential not only to implement seismic retrofitting and renovations for elderly residents and to maintain daily routines that ensure comfort, but also to foster residents’ awareness of home management and to develop and implement a social system through which they can access appropriate information to support the ongoing management of their homes.