No buildings have collapsed, yet. No one has been hurt. But the case of the architect caught cheating on earthquake building codes has transfixed Japan.
Night after night, television news programs feature video clips of tearful condominium owners moving out of their new apartments, while construction company owners, inspectors and the architect involved in the deficient buildings blame one another for the failings. So far, seven hotels have been forced to close, including a 260-room tower that opened in August near the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
"It's not entirely my fault," Hidetsugu Aneha, the architect, told reporters last week.
To cut construction costs and win more commissions, authorities say, Aneha designed 21 buildings over the last decade that would not withstand a moderate earthquake.
Working in almost half of Japan's 47 prefectures, Aneha had a hand in nearly 200 structures, largely apartment buildings, but also hotels and temples. In one 11-story condominium complex studied this week by the newspaper Asahi Shimbun, columns and steel reinforcing bars were found to be too thin and too far apart, and different earthquake force figures were used for the same floor. The report for this Tokyo building, the newspaper said, was "filled with inconsistencies that any expert could easily have picked up."
The scandal, which many fear could spread even further, strikes at a core insecurity for many Japanese. Located atop four tectonic plates, Japan is exceptionally prone to earthquakes. A decade ago, a severe temblor flattened sections of the port of Kobe, killing about 6,000 people. After that, the country tightened its already strict building codes, leading many Japanese to believe that they live in the world's most earthquake-safe nation.
"With the Kobe earthquake, we saw high-rises pancaking, the highway keeling over, we learned builders had used wood instead of steel reinforcing bars," said Jeffrey Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple University Japan. "We live in a earthquake hot zone, and so it is imperative that the government strictly enforce building standards."
It now appears that corners were cut as the construction industry struggled to reduce costs as it coped with a deflationary economy and a stagnant population.
"I felt pressure from the industry's overall trend to seek speed and low cost," Aneha told reporters, according to Kyodo News. "I didn't feel I was doing anything wrong, and I was too busy to sense any feeling like that."
The architect defended his buildings. But under questioning by reporters, he conceded that in a medium-size earthquake, "they might crumble."
One construction company is planning to file for bankruptcy next week as a result of the scandal. Others are reeling under the pressure of financing the costs of demolishing or repairing defective high-rise condominiums.
Officials are now focusing on private companies that were contracted to review building plans.
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