Danchi

Danchi (Japanese: 団地, literally "group land") is the Japanese word for a large cluster of apartment buildings or houses of a particular style and design, typically built as public housing by government authorities. Older danchi are sometimes compared to Khrushchyovkas,^[1] a similar housing development project in the Soviet Union from the same period.

The Japan Housing Corporation (JHC), now known as the Urban Renaissance Agency (UR), was founded in 1955. During the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, the JHC built many danchi in suburban areas to offset the increasing housing demand during the post-World War II economic boom.^[2] It introduced the Japanese salaryman to a life around the nuclear family in contrast with the multi-generation homes before the war.^[3] The kitchen embodied the raised status of the Japanese housewife, as it was in the center of the apartment, not in a dark corner. The families equipped them with the "Three Sacred Treasures": a refrigerator, a washing machine and a black and white television set.

The rent payment for a danchi is much cheaper than that of a condominium or a mortgage, but for a public danchi the prospective tenant must usually participate in a lottery to be assigned an open apartment. Some danchi built in recent years are quite modern and spacious, but since there is a lottery for assignment the waiting list can often run years. On the other hand, there continue to be many open slots in older, distant danchi. Originally, the monthly wage of the renter had to be at least 5.5 times the rent.^[3]

Residents in UR danchi do not have to pay key money or contract renewal fees, making the residences cheaper than comparable housing even if the monthly rents are equivalent.^[4] Some danchi are owned by large corporations, who charge low or no rent to employees as a benefit as well as to encourage them to live alongside their colleagues to foster a corporate "family" atmosphere.