The Least Useful Guide to Fukuoka

This is not a newly developed residential area.
This is a “sample house park” where “housemakers” , construction companies specialised in custom-build (in fact, based on their templates) house, recommend their latest models (I heard that the Germans have similar system).

Traditionally Japanese houses were works of skilled builders and craftsmen, so you would have had to discuss and negotiate directly with them for a quite a long time (for example, my grandfather spent full 2 years to have his small house built).
But now we have these housemakers which offer a range of efficient, sophisticated, and affordable (not always) houses with state-of-the-art technologies. What you need to do is to choose one of their recommended models and they will adapt the chosen model to your specifications, from the size of a house to the colour of a doorknob.
It usually takes less than 6months to get your new house completed. Although due to the recent recession, renovation and refurbishment have been more popular, it is still said that a house’s life expectancy is about 30 years if it is built of wood.


By the way, visiting these sample houses could make a good free entertainment if you are good at pretending that you want to “buy” a house. A friendly clerk from the construction company will politely show you around their “product” house; the latest material, structure and home equipments such as home solar generators, and perfectly decorated interior. They might even offer a cup of tea and some sweets.
But be warned: you will be asked to answer questionnaire, and once you leave your name and phone number, you will be bombarded with sales calls until they have learnt you are not their customer.