Challenges Facing the Kyomachiya
Machiya had a difficult time surviving post World War II, as no new structures could be built due to fire and earthquake regulations. Additionally, the building boom that hit in the subsequent years meant that there was little room for old-fashioned wooden houses. A further combination of high land prices (at one point reaching $1,500 per square foot of land in central Kyoto) and high inheritance tax (up to 70 percent) meant that it was economically more attractive to sell or to destroy and rebuild rather than restore Kyoto's machiya. A Kyoto University study showed that from 1978 to 1988 approximately 50,000 wooden structures were torn down, a high percentage of which were machiya (Keane, Architecture).
The number of remaining machiya is difficult to pinpoint, though a survey conducted in 1998 by the Kyoto City Government shows that approximately 28,000 machiya remain standing in the Kamigyo, Nakagyo, Shimogyo and Highshi-yama wards of the city. The city estimated that 500 machiya are demolished each year (Asahi Shinbun, 11/30/05). The future was looking dismal for machiya at the end of the '90s.
Fortunately the hard work of organizations like Mitate, Machiya Club, and the Kyoto Machiya Craftsmen's Group received considerable media attention. Machiya have steadily regaining their former popularity, and the current real estate market shows them to be among the most desirable properties in the city. During 2005, "the monthly rent for a decent-sized machiya around the city center doubled from 500,000 yen to 1 million yen," said one real estate agent in an interview given to the Asahi Shinbun at the end of 2005 (Asahi Shinbun, 11/30/05).
Certainly machiya are showing many signs of undergoing a "boom", which is promising for stopping the rapid destruction from former decades. Fusae Kojima, head of the Kyoto Machiya Craftsmen's Group sees potential danger in the boom:
Restaurants opening outlets certainly helped preserve the machiya from being torn down. That is one aspect. But then again, we see such drastic over-renovation being done that the original features are taken out. Wooden beams are removed and whole floors are lowered. What we worry about is once the boom is gone and the tenant leaves. The building will be a shell and it will take a lot of work to restore them to their original state and make them livable again (Asahi Shinbun, 11/30/05).
Mark Peter Keane, founder of Mitate, a group dedicated to preserving traditional Japanese culture, takes a slightly different view, saying that: "Everything goes in cycles. Kyo-machiya will face the possibility of destruction again in the future but, on the flip-side, they may also experience a stronger revitalization through which old machiya are restored and, more importantly, new ones are built" (Keane Email).
The Kyoto City government started to play a role in the preservation of the city's few machiya when it established a fund in 2003 to provide funds for those who wish to restore their homes. It is a big step in the right direction. If they would only pass legislation making it possible to construct new machiya, the townhouse's future would look brighter still.
Works Cited
"Capital idea: The quaint 'machiya' of Kyoto are fast disappearing." Asahi Shimbun 30 November 2005.
Keane, Marc Peter. "RE: Machiya Questions." Email to Author. 5 March 2006.
Keane, Marc Peter. "Turning Kyoto Into Kindling." Architecture May 2000: 75.
