The village of Ouchijuku in Fukushima Prefecture has become famous for its numerous traditional thatched buildings from the Edo period that line its main street. Within these well-preserved 300-year-old buildings, residents have also incorporated the attitude of the people of that time period modifying their lifestyles and businesses to fit the environment. The area is designated as a Traditional Architectural Preservation District of Japan. This paper introduces the research I conducted in this village, and presents interviews with people who have been key in reviving it, in terms of sustainable housing and living practices. In particular, the paper focuses on how residents are : 1) following the same lifestyle as that of the Edo Period, including lowered incomes and decreased information access ; 2) following styles of architecture and building that is in line with traditional Japanese carpentry ; 3) following a ‘local community system’ type of structure. The case of Ouchijuku particularly sends out an important message regarding recycle-oriented communities, low-carbon societies, and the natural symbiosis that exists between society and the natural world. It also demonstrates how Japanese housing policies can become tools for new economic growth strategies.

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Though many people are known to make the assumption that a super-insulated house cannot possibly have a good ventilation system, it is simply not true. This article introduces the vital relationship between the level of insulation and the style of living in a home. The insulation level is just one of many criteria for evaluating any house, so finding a balance among all the factors that make up a house evaluation is crucial to its long life.

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Increasing environmental awareness worldwide and the subsequent contributions being made by the building sector have led to the development of CASBEE (Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental Efficiency). This system for promoting sustainable measures in building enables us to comprehensively evaluate the environmental characteristics of buildings with regard to factors such as resource conservation, durability, use of recyclate, consideration of hazardous materials, etc. Through the use of guaranteed systems and objective evaluations by third-party agencies, CASBEE aims to contribute to the promotion of sound environmental architecture.
One important sustainable building issue that has not, however, yet been solved is that along with the obvious physical lifecycle and durabilty of any building, social, cultural and aesthetic durability (often reasons for demolition) must also be fully considered. The contributing factors that decide the durability of social periods are extensive, it also takes a long time to verify the causes and effects for building changes, renovations and reconstructions. For these reasons, although in-depth surveys and research on partial stages have been done, it is still difficult to gather the knowledge to conduct a systematic analysis in this area. This paper provides an overview of the transitions that are currently taking place in the Japanese building industry. It focuses on architectural events and their aftermath, and the characteristics and problems of those factors that have become triggers for the start of the scrap-and-build phenomenon now facing Japan.

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This paper provides an outline of current domestic activities for reviewing Japan′s Construction Material Recycling Law, which has become five years old since its enforcement in 2002, and those for promoting 200-year housing, such as promulgation of the Long-Life Housing Promotion Law. Problems and possible directions regarding the Construction Material Recycling Law are identified and discussed based on a report of the committees organized by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) and the Ministry of the Environment (MOE). The current situation of the 200-year housing is summarized, along with its importance and the requirements for realizing this aim. Outlines for the Long-Life Housing Promotion Law and its related problems have also been reviewed. According to the 3R principles, further efforts must be made to maintain long-term housing quality, in addition to thorough recycling of used construction materials. Because long-life housing, exemplified by 200-year housing, can provide a variety of important benefits, this challenge must be undertake from the viewpoint of enriching lives rather than just from the waste reduction angle.

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A resource recycling-oriented system in the Hachinohe area was examined to discover the important influence this eco-town project has on five large material industries there. Extensive development of the recycling system was found in agricultural and electrical industries as well as areas such as water supply and drainage operations, the wholesale and retail industry, and in fisheries. The Hachinohe area can be said to have attained zero-emissions. It is important to look at the role of local companies in making this system work : Hachinohe Cement in particular, but also Pacific-Metals, which deals with waste from agriculture and the fisheries. The main business of companies like Tohoku Tokyo Tekko and Hachinohe Smelter is recycling, and they have also made their own positive impacts. The cumulative efforts and accomplishments of all these businesses put together have helped to realize zero-emission status. On the other hand, Chinese yam sediment, fowl dung, pig droppings are also being changed into manure. In the field of agriculture, this is being carried out by Hachinohe Agricultural Cooperative Association. One existing problem, however, still exists. There are enormous amounts of slag and sludge that remain to be disposed of, but there are reports that Tohoku Tokyo Tekko and Hachinohe Smelter have set about to dispose of this industrial waste problem also.

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