History of Housing for Japanese Postwar Returnees Kept Alive

Tokyo, Aug. 15 (Jiji Press)–Efforts have been made to keep alive the history of public housing for those who returned to Japan from former Manchuria, a northeastern China region once controlled by Japan, and elsewhere after the end of World War II. Soon after the war ended in 1945, some 600 wooden houses called “Oimawashi Jutaku” were built on a site that had hosted a facility of the now-defunct Imperial Japanese Army in Sendai, the capital of Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, for returnees from abroad. As many as up to some 4,000 people lived there. When the government body in charge of building the houses was disbanded at the end of 1946, residents bought out their houses and continued living there by paying land rent to the state. But residents were asked to move out when the Sendai city government came up with a plan to build a park in the Oimawashi Jutaku area. After many years of negotiations, the last remaining house in the area was demolished in February 2023. In winter that year, an exhibition featuring Oimawashi Jutaku was held at the city’s Sendai Mediatheque cultural center, with exhibits including full-size mock-ups of houses, photos of the area and narratives from former residents. Kenji Kai, who planned the exhibition, said he “aimed to create an event in which visitors can feel as if they are meeting with residents (of Oimawashi Jutaku).” There were more than 200 responses in the exhibition’s visitor feedback survey. “Oimawashi Jutaku had been alive until only recently,” said Kai, 63. “I hope guests will interpret the place in their own ways and keep it in their memories.” In the Ropponmatsu district of Chuo Ward in the southwestern city of Fukuoka, wooden tenement houses were built for returnees from Manchuria and elsewhere. Many of the buildings have survived after being renovated and expanded. Fukuoka-based Apollo Keikaku Inc., whose operations include architecture, branding and real estate brokerage, started to work on renovating the housing six years ago. “The walls were a patchwork of materials such as boards and metal plates, suggesting a lack of materials at the time,” Shinsuke Matsuyama, 58-year-old head of the company, said. “Because no drawings remained, we had to design from scratch. We had difficulties especially with the water supply and drainage systems.” One renovated building is currently lent out. “The history of housing for returnees may be hidden in areas where housing complexes and commercial facilities are located,” Takanori Shimamura, a Kwansei Gakuin University professor of modern folklore, said. “I think it’s important to preserve such housing in ways that enable people to experience and understand the hardships of returnees, including exhibiting mock-ups of houses and daily goods,” he added. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]