That’s actually rather difficult to give one answer to, even if narrowed to one country/culture as the target audience.
For North America: central heat/air is not a thing here outside of commercial applications. A handful of private individuals do it, but it ends up costing a ton both directly (the unit/maintenance) and indirectly (more materials, ductwork, insulation, etc. that are less common and more expensive here). We just had building laws revised this year to require slightly higher building codes for energy efficiency and insulation, but it’s still well below the standard of other places. It’s somewhat a cost issue (Japanese houses depreciate to nothing after 20 years in most cases and land value only goes up in a handful of areas, so there’s additional pressure not to care a ton), and also a reaction to “sick home syndrome” that came from bad plastics/materials offgassing things like formaldehyde in the '80s in more tightly-closed homes. Here, homes that breathe well are still considered better.
What’s something that most people would be surprised to learn about Japan?
That’s actually rather difficult to give one answer to, even if narrowed to one country/culture as the target audience.
For North America: central heat/air is not a thing here outside of commercial applications. A handful of private individuals do it, but it ends up costing a ton both directly (the unit/maintenance) and indirectly (more materials, ductwork, insulation, etc. that are less common and more expensive here). We just had building laws revised this year to require slightly higher building codes for energy efficiency and insulation, but it’s still well below the standard of other places. It’s somewhat a cost issue (Japanese houses depreciate to nothing after 20 years in most cases and land value only goes up in a handful of areas, so there’s additional pressure not to care a ton), and also a reaction to “sick home syndrome” that came from bad plastics/materials offgassing things like formaldehyde in the '80s in more tightly-closed homes. Here, homes that breathe well are still considered better.
It still boggles my mind people in Japan buy new when it comes to housing. I guess if they are all cheaply built that makes sense.