Comments on: Tales of reconstruction: How do you assess damage of this magnitude?

By: Miko

Miko — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 03:21:32 +0000

After much tussling and a couple of heated arguments that nearly came to blows (literally, standing there in the wreckage), my elderly landlord finally agreed to return the deposits to each of the tenants. We acted as a group, so he really had no choice but to go along with us. We had to sign away our “right” to sue him (not that I had any intention of doing so anyway, I just really needed the money!). I think it was 200k in my case, and some of us were surprised to learn that he’d demanded varying amounts from each tenant (my next door neighbours had been charged double that, they were livid!).

I remember having to call him a few times to remind him to put the money in my bank account, which he finally did after carefully subtracting the banking fees. I did feel sorry for him. I heard of an elderly couple who took their own lives because of so many hassles dealing with their tenants after the quake. It was hard on everyone.

In my previous post I made a mistake with the figures, I received one million yen from the government (not 100k). I seem to recall some smaller figures, such as 20k, that came from donations too.

By: Philip Brasor & Masako Tsubuku

Philip Brasor & Masako Tsubuku — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 22:41:34 +0000

I’ve heard non-governmental payments for such disasters vary widely depending on the number of people affected. For instance, the victims of the Okushiri tsunami in 1993 each received something like 20 or 30 million yen because so many people donated money and there were relatively few recipients to divide it among.

This may sound trivial, but I’m curious: Did your landlord refund your security deposit after the earthquake? I’ve also heard they are required to but usually don’t for obvious reasons.

By: Miko

Miko — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 14:01:38 +0000

My home (a rental apaato) was rendered “zenkai” in the Kobe quake. From what I recall, I received 300k initially as a Red Cross handout, and later 100k as compensation money. Those sums applied to each household, regardless of the number of family members; something I found outrageous at the time. I also got big tax breaks for several years. Every little bit helped.

Oh, it took so long to get my shit together afterwards. I can’t bring myself to think about it.

By: Philip Brasor & Masako Tsubuku

Philip Brasor & Masako Tsubuku — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 08:33:55 +0000

“Is Philip Brasor working on a book about housing that will never be finished? Or about housing that will never be finished?”

Actually, both.

By: gail nash

gail nash — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 05:40:19 +0000

Is Philip Brasor working on a book about housing that will never be finished? Or about housing that will never be finished?

Good article on the situation for those of us in the U.S. who are trying to get an idea of how tough it will be for the Japanese to rebuild.