Overview

The book is the first to explore the history and political significance of the Japanese public housing program.

Historical Context

In the 1960s, as Japan's postwar economy boomed, architects and urban planners inspired equally by Western modernism and Soviet ideas of housing as a basic right created new cityscapes to house populations turned into refugees by the war.

Current Perspectives

Over time, as Japan's society aged and the economy began to stagnate, these structures have become a burden on society.

About the Monograph

In this closely researched monograph on the conditions of Japanese housing, Tatiana Knoroz sheds unexpected light on the rise and fall of the idea of social democracy in Japan which will be of interest to historians, architects, and scholars of Asian economic modernization.