双语阅读｜日本人喜欢将房子推倒重建 EVERY 20 years in the eastern coast

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EVERY 20 years in the eastern coastal Japanese city of Ise, the shrine, one of the country’s most venerated, is knocked down and rebuilt. The ritual is believed to refresh spiritual bonds between the people and the gods. Demolishing houses has no such lofty objective. Yet in Japan they have a similarly short life expectancy.

每隔20年，日本东岸城市伊势里的一座最受日本人尊崇的建筑神宫就会推倒重建一次。据说这一仪式可以延续人神之间的精神纽带。拆除房屋并没什么崇高目标，但在日本，房屋的寿命和神宫一样短。

According to Nomura, a brokerage, the value of the average Japanese house depreciates to zero in 22 years. (It is calculated separately from the land, which is more likely to hold its value.) Most are knocked down and rebuilt. Sales of new homes far outstrip those of used ones, which usually change hands in the expectation that they will be demolished and replaced. In America and Europe second-hand houses accounted for 90% of sales and new-builds for 10% in 2017. In Japan the proportions are the other way around.

野村证券表示，日本房屋的市值会在22年内跌到0（房屋和土地的市值是分开计算的，土地往往比房屋更保值）。大部分房屋都会推倒重建。新房出售远远超过二手房，而人们购买二手房也是想拆掉再新建。2007年，美国和欧洲的二手房交易占房地产交易的90%，新房占比为10%。而在日本，这两者的占比却是颠倒过来的。

The reasons for Japanese houses’ rapid loss of value lie partly in tradition. In many countries people buy when they pair off, when they move to a bigger place after they have children or when they downsize on retirement. Japanese people have tended to see out all life’s stages in the same dwelling, a custom they attribute to their history as a farming nation, when they had to stay put. As a result, they never got used to second-hand homes.

日本房屋快速贬值的一个原因在于日本传统。在很多国家，人们找到伴侣的时候才会买房，生儿育女之后会买大一点的房子，退休之后会换回小一点的房子。可日本人往往在一处住所度过自己的一生，日本人认为这一习俗和日本曾是农业文明的历史有关，因为在农业文明时期同，人们不得不定居在同一处。因而日本人再也住不惯二手房。

The frequency of earthquakes also plays a part. Large tremors tend to be followed by tougher building regulations. Many people want to live in a home built to the most recent standards. History also helped to form habits. During the second world war dozens of cities, including Tokyo, had been flattened by American bombs. The population then was growing fast. Quantity was valued over quality. Big prefab manufacturers, such as Daiwa House, survive to this day, bringing out new models every year that, as with cars, people aspire to upgrade to.

另一个原因是地震频发。大规模地震导致建筑法规变得更为严格。许多人都希望能够住在符合最新房屋标准的住所里。历史也让日本人养成了习惯。二战期间，包括东京等十几座城市遭美军空袭，夷为平地。此后，日本人口迅速增长，房屋数量重于质量。大和房屋等大型活动房屋制造商一直经营至今，每年都会像推出新车型一样推出新房型，满足人们升级住房的想法。

One careless owner

房主无意维护房屋

In a vicious cycle, houses are expected to depreciate and are therefore not maintained, so second-hand homes are often dingy and depressing. Japanese people also shun wake-ari bukken, buildings “stigmatised” because, say, a former resident committed suicide there or a cult resides nearby. “In Japan, the words old and charming do not go together,” says Noriko Kagami, an estate agent (who tore down a house she bought herself).

这样，房屋就陷入了恶性循环。由于人们都预估房屋会贬值，就不会保养房屋，待售的二手房经常肮脏破烂，没人愿买。日本人经常对上一任主人自杀，或附近有邪教徒居住的“凶宅”避之不及。“在日本，‘老’和‘好’这两个词格格不入，”日本房地产中介Noriko Kagami如此说道。她本人在买房之后推倒建新房。

Unsurprisingly, given the speed at which the value of houses falls to nothing, banks are more willing to offer loans for new places. Government policy, long aimed at resolving a housing shortage, further skews housebuyers’ incentives. It is not tax-efficient to improve a house, says Daisuke Fukushima of Nomura, since property taxes are based on value. Someone who buys a new-build must pay 0.4% of its value to register ownership. Registering a change of ownership costs 2%.

由于房屋贬值极快，银行自然更愿意为购买新地的人提供贷款。日本政府的政策一直想要解决房屋短缺问题，却与购房者的买房动机背道而驰。福岛大辅(Daisuke Fukushima)表示，由于财产税以财产价值为基础收缴，税务效益根本不能用于改善房屋。如果买新房的话，付0.4%的财产税就能把房记入名下，而变更房屋所有权要交2%的财产税。

Construction and home-fitting companies benefit from this speedy housing cycle. But in the longer term is it wasteful. Chie Nozawa of Toyo University compares it to slash-and-burn farming. “We are not building wealth,” says Yasuhiko Nakajo, who leads the property department at Meikai University.

房屋建造与家装企业在快速房屋流转中收益匪浅。但从长远来看，这很是浪费。东洋大学的Chie Nozawa将这种住房模式比作刀耕火种。明海大学不动产学部部长中城康彦说道：”我们没有建造财富“。

When the number of mouths to feed is growing, slash-and-burn at least makes short-term sense. But Japan’s throwaway housing culture, shaped by a once-urgent need to house growing numbers, makes no sense now that the population is shrinking. The country currently has an estimated 10m abandoned homes, a number that is expected to rise above 20m by 2033.

如果刀耕火种产的粮食要养活越来越多的人口，那么这种方式至少在短期内是有意义的。但是，日本的一次性住房文化是由曾经大规模紧迫住房需求催生的。如今日本人口正在缩减，这种住房文化便失去了意义。据估算，目前日本有一千万所废弃房屋，2033年这一数字预计会上升至两千万。

That is a problem for entire neighbourhoods: a derelict lot drags down the value of nearby houses. It also complicates the transfer of wealth from the big post-war generation. A house that is worth nothing cannot be sold to pay for an assisted-living apartment or a place in a nursing home, or handed on as an inheritance.

这对于整个社会都是个问题：一片废弃空地会让周围房屋贬值。这也会让战后一代的财富转移更加复杂。房屋一文不值就无法出售，房主就无法为生活援助或疗养院床位买单，也无法把房屋作为遗产留给自己的后代。

The government has, belatedly, started to rethink its policies. It set itself the target of doubling the number of used-housing sales in 2020 compared with ten years earlier, and is strengthening a home-surveying system introduced in 2013. From next month estate agents will have to give prospective buyers more information, including disclosing the results of any inspection. Much still remains unclear, though, including how long the results of a survey will remain valid, and whether the seller will be liable for defects that were not disclosed during the sale.

亡羊补牢，犹未为晚。日本政府已经开始重新制订政策，订到眼2020年二手房交易量与2010年相比翻一番的目标，还要加强自2013年引入的房屋调查系统。自下个月起，房地产中介就必须为有购房意愿的客户提供更多房屋信息，公布所有调查结果。不过，这一政策目前尚不明确，比如调查结果有效时长以及房主是否对未公布的房屋瑕疵负责等诸多细节尚不清晰。

The government is also considering reducing the taxes associated with buying a home if it is currently vacant. Some regions are offering incentives to buyers of abandoned homes, including financial aid and lower taxes.

日本政府也在考虑在所购房屋是空房的情况下减少购房时所纳税款。一些地区正在出台资金援助与减税等激励措施，鼓励购房者购买废弃房屋。

Banks are becoming a little more forthcoming with loans for second-hand housing. Some housing companies are starting to offer renovation and refurbishment services. When Motoazabu Hills, a posh building of rented apartments in central Tokyo, recently changed hands, the new owner decided to gut and redo the interiors rather than knock the whole thing down. AERA, a magazine, recently published a guide to buying property that will retain its value. Among its tips was to buy in an area that is home to lots of women in their 20s and 30s (ie, of childbearing age).

银行对于贷款买二手房也更通融了一些。一些房地产公司开始提供装修服务。东京市中心出租公寓楼Motoazabu Hills最近也易主了，公寓楼新主人决定翻修公寓内部，而非将整座楼拆毁。AERA杂志最近也刊登了保值房产的购房指南。这本杂志给出的建议之一便是在二三十岁（也就是正处于生育年龄）女性大量居住的地区买房。

All this is having some success. In the cities a larger share of people now rent than own places, and move more often. “We are entering a stage where people are starting to see a used home as an option,” says Mr Nakajo. In 2017 a record 37,329 second-hand flats were sold in Tokyo, a 31% increase on ten years earlier. Yet until what Mr Nakajo dubs the “20-year-mentality” changes, the preference for shiny and new will remain.

这一切举措都有所成效。在城市，越来越多的人现在更愿意租房，而不是买房，搬家频率也上升了。“我们正在走进一个大家都更愿意考虑买二手房的阶段，” Nakajo说道。2017年，东京二手房交易量为37,329套，比10年前增长了31%，达到历史新高。可是，除非Nakajo所说的“20年思维模式”有所改变，否则人们就还是会偏爱新房。

编译：VeraBFSU

双语阅读｜日本人喜欢将房子推倒重建。重建|日本人|房子|双语|a+|推倒---

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来源：经济学人（2018.03.18）

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