(, literally "group land") is the Japanese word for a large cluster of apartment buildings or houses of a particular style and design, typically built as

public housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...

by government authorities. Older danchi are sometimes compared to Khrushchyovkas, a similar housing development project in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

from the same period. The Japan Housing Corporation (JHC), now known as the Urban Renaissance Agency (UR), was founded in 1955. During the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, the JHC built many in suburban areas to offset the increasing housing demand during the post-World War II economic boom. It introduced the Japanese

salaryman The term is a Japanese word for salary, salaried workers. In Japanese popular culture, it is portrayed as a white-collar worker who shows unwavering loyalty and commitment to his employer, prioritizing work over anything else, including family. ...

to a life around the

nuclear family A nuclear family (also known as an elementary family, atomic family, or conjugal family) is a term for a family group consisting of parents and their children (one or more), typically living in one home residence. It is in contrast to a single ...

in contrast with the multi-generation homes before the war.A Generation in Japan Faces a Lonely Death
Norimitsu Onichi, November 30, 2017, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. The kitchen embodied the raised status of the Japanese housewife, as it was in the center of the apartment, not in a dark corner. The families equipped them with the " Three Sacred Treasures": a

refrigerator A refrigerator, commonly shortened to fridge, is a commercial and home appliance consisting of a thermal insulation, thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump (mechanical, electronic or chemical) that transfers heat from its inside to ...

, a

washing machine A washing machine (laundry machine, clothes washer, washer, or simply wash) is a machine designed to laundry, launder clothing. The term is mostly applied to machines that use water. Other ways of doing laundry include dry cleaning (which uses ...

and a

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

television set A television set or television receiver (more commonly called TV, TV set, television, telly, or tele) is an electronic device for viewing and hearing television broadcasts, or as a computer monitor. It combines a tuner, display, and loudspeake ...

. The rent payment for a is much cheaper than that of a

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership regime in which a building (or group of buildings) is divided into multiple units that are either each separately owned, or owned in common with exclusive rights of occupation by individual own ...

or a mortgage, but for a public the prospective tenant must usually participate in a lottery to be assigned an open apartment. Some built in recent years are quite modern and spacious, but since there is a lottery for assignment the waiting list can often run years. On the other hand, there continue to be many open slots in older, distant . Originally, the monthly wage of the renter had to be at least 5.5 times the rent. Residents in UR ''danchi'' do not have to pay key money or contract renewal fees, making the residences cheaper than comparable housing even if the monthly rents are equivalent. Some are owned by large corporations, who charge low or no rent to employees as a benefit as well as to encourage them to live alongside their colleagues to foster a corporate "family" atmosphere.

Issues with danchi

Aging population

Today, fewer and fewer Japanese live in the rapidly aging ''danchi'', preferring detached houses or condominiums, known as . Due to the mass influx of young families into ''danchi'' in a short period of time from the 1950s through 1970s, age groups of ''danchi'' neighbourhoods are much more uniform compared to other neighbourhoods in Japan. Since the 2000s, it became a major social issue in Japan due to its rapidly aging population with a majority of the population being pensioners with their dependents living elsewhere. The rapidly aging population have caused nearby stores, public facilities and schools to close, further keeping young families from moving into ''danchi'' neighbourhoods. Many of the new residents after the 1990s are childless couples or elderly singles. Seniors living in ''danchi'' often face isolation and are susceptible to kodokushi, a phenomenon of dying alone and not being discovered. Men living alone are especially vulnerable. Some ''danchi'' have attracted young immigrants and foreign worker families from outside of Japan, gradually lowering the average age of the population, although the seniors still face isolation.

Aging buildings

Many ''danchi'' were built in the 1950s through 1970s with building codes and seismic standards of that time. Buildings from those periods are considered outdated and often have various accessibility issues. While most ''danchi'' have gone through

seismic retrofit Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes (or generally, quakes) and the generation and propagation of elastic ...

to meet the current seismic standards, many ''danchi'' are being demolished and rebuilt since the 2000s to modernize and bring the buildings up to current codes, improve accessibility and to attract younger families.

Public perception

Although the name ''danchi'' evoked the image of modern housing at the time they were built in the 1960s, today the name is associated with poverty, aging population and outdated post-war buildings offering minimum amenities to their occupants. Modern ''"danchi"'' built in recent years are no longer branded as a ''danchi'' due to the negative image of this name.

References

External links