The Vitality and Resilience of Inherited Japanese Houses—100 years of Shimizu-gumi Houses —

These houses have prevailed over many challenges as a result of the imagination of architects, the passion and craftsmanship of builders, the care and efforts of residents, the attachments of their descendants, and the fortuitous interactions among all parties. [...] (...) In this age, the Japanese-Western eclectic style is the most common in this society.” The volumes reflect the company’s recognition of the important role of houses for the lifestyle of the nation and the company’s mission and aspiration to improve the standard of houses. [...] The organization and the movement it spurred attracted the attention of the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, and “Seikatsu-kaizen Domei-kai” was established as an auxiliary organization of the Ministry of Education in 1920. [...] In the ranking of building use in the Meiji period, factories, the foundation of modernization in Japan, rank first (n=152) and banks, the basis of the modern financial system, place second (n=129). [...] 36 Design/Construction scheme for residential architecture of Shimizu-gumi From the beginning of the Taisho period to 1938, when houses in the Catalog were completed, the Japanese economy experienced a rapid succession of boom and bust periods: a boom during the First World War, a postwar bust, the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, the Great Depression in 1929, and a period of recovery under the eco.