This is a day in the life of a Japanese homebuilder
[Intro Music Playing]
[ Mobile alarm goes off ]
This is Yuya
25 years old living in Tokyo and he's just waking up for work
he lives in this 1k apartment
which is about 25 square meters
just around the average for a single residence Tokyo apartment
27.4 square meters or about 295 square feet
although becoming less common these days in Japan
his apartment rent is partially covered by his company
a system called Jutaku Teate
House Allowance
The average housing allowance in Japan being about $150 per month
That said
It does help that his company constructed the apartment building he is living in
Do you always eat breakfast ?
How long does it take you to get ready ?
Yuya works as a home construction site manager
graduating from a four-year university focused in architecture
In fact he's been interested in architecture since he was in elementary school
so much so that he wrote it in his yearbook
[ Speaks Japanese ]
Yuya's apartment is relatively far from the train station by Tokyo standards
so he usually takes a bus first to get to the train station
and then rides a train to work
so this morning instead of going to the office
he commutes directly to the construction site
which is often the case and why it's commute times
varies depending on the project
Good Morning everyone !!
I'm back with another day in the life
and today we are building a house
Yuya should be coming on the next train
let's see how he's doing this morning
Good Morning !!
How do you sleep last night ?
Yuya works at Daiwa House
one of the top home builders in Japan
building 7000 homes each year
with a total of about 17000 employees throughout Japan
What's that ?
KY stands for Kiken Yochi
Danger & Foresight
This form is commonly used on Japanese construction work sites
to help prevent human errors like miscommunication
or over exhaustion
as well as to promote a healthy and safe working environment
Oh it seems like more of the construction workers are arriving on site
They're all required to check in via facial recognition
as well as to take their body temperature
to verify that they're healthy enough to work
Now that all the workers have arrived
it's time for chore, their daily morning meeting
Like many other traditional Japanese companies
the construction workers also have morning exercises called Radio Taiso
to warm up and prevent injury before their physical work day ahead
a little different than many companies though
is that this meeting is connected to the headquarters
as well as other construction sites
so the Daiwa workers can exercise at the same time
all throughout Japan
as a part of the meeting
workers recite the company's philosophy
then they silently close their eyes and think about their family
and important things in their life as a reminder to work safely today
followed up by uniform inspection
At the construction site
there are also workers from other co-operative companies
so as a construction site manager
it's Yuya's responsibility to guide and communicate building plan requirements
to each party so the house is built to specification each and every time
This current project is a three-story home
designed to be a tenant occupied rental
with the owner living on the top floor
380 square meters of total living space
on a 132 square meters of land
all scheduled to complete within four months
after the morning meeting
the workers including Yuya start with a 10 minute cleaning
What about all the garbage ?
Japan is already fairly strict on waste management
but Yuya's company takes it one step further
for example they sort their waste into 19 recyclable categories
At the beginning of the day he performs a walkthrough
with the KY form
paying careful attention to the workers health condition
helmets and safety equipment are being properly used
and tools and materials are properly kept
What's that ?
since the workers will be using the scaffolding today
he inspects it beforehand to ensure it's safe to use
as he's responsible for injuries that occur on site
So Yuya is a Ni-Kyu Kenchikushi
a prefecture license certified second-class architect
which allows him to manage small housing construction
A first class license would allow for larger construction projects
such as Olympic stadiums
but would require passing a national qualifying exam
where only about 10% of the applicants are able to pass
What are you doing now ?
Throughout the day Yuya performs Junkai
which is a regular site walkthrough
to ensure all of the workers are completing each task to specification
apparently his company has strict and precise guidelines
to produce high quality homes
and each one undergoes three levels of inspection
one by him every day
then by his supervisor and finally by the quality assurance team
Oh he marked something !!
What was wrong ?
So, What your main responsibility ?
QCDSEM stands for Quality Cost Delivery Safety Environment & Morale
Where are you going now ?
Nice he's picking up drinks for everyone
Now he takes a 30 minute break with the workers
so construction work in Japan
also has a dark history where many are overworked to the point of exhaustion
so it's his responsibility to ensure that everyone under his supervision
gets enough rest
Isn't it hot in the summer ?
you guys don't use a fan ?
now back to work
What are you guys checking right now ?
WOW !! This building plan has over 200 pages
It's also Yuya's responsibility
to know every detail about the building plan
so he can clarify any questions from the construction workers
What's this ?
This X-shaped structural brace is installed in all of their homes
as Japan is ranked fourth in the world for having earthquakes
so earthquake resistant building laws have been in place since 1924
and have been updated over the years
such as the Shin-Taishin standard
requiring that all buildings must be able to withstand a stage six seismic event
on Japan's seven stage seismic scale
so what would happen if there was an earthquake right now ?
Also Japanese homes are often built right next to each other
so they must adhere
to Japanese fireproofing laws
for example they must be able to tolerate fire
for at least one hour without collapsing
as well as contain inside fires from breaching outer walls and vice versa
even pipes traveling between floors
must be wrapped in a special fire retardant material
designed to melt during a fire
effectively sealing the hole and trapping the fire
so it looks like Yuya is going to be doing his inspection for a little bit longer
so while he's doing that let's do our own inspection
Okay look at this area
looks like the garage
I guess they're using it as a temporary storage spot for building materials
Can I ask you a question ?
What are you doing now ?
Apparently it's fairly detailed construction
since the pattern is a bit complicated
so he has to be careful
Hi what are you doing ?
Yay !! Lunchtime
Today he's decided to eat at a soba shop in the area
it looks like he's having one of their specialties
chicken nanban soba
do you always eat alone ?
I guess this is how life in Japan is these days
What's next after this ?
before workers come back he prepares the Sagyokan Renraku Chosei
a specific form workers need to fill out
to indicate what work needs to be done tomorrow
including the number of workers
Yuya is relatively young in the company
so he manages one project at a time
meaning he builds about three houses a year
but he continues to work hard
and builds his skills with goals to be able to manage several buildings at a time
What's your favorite part of your job ?
By the way
Yuya's company uses a prefabricated style of construction
where the raw materials such as board and planks are pre-cut at the factory
and delivered in exact quantities and then constructed all on-site
this allows them to build consistent
and high-quality homes in relatively shorter times
with minimal waste
What's that ?
I get your flow
It's usually hidden behind the wall so you don't get to see it
What's that ?
Oh I guess Yuya is leaving for the office
How far is the office from the station ?
and it's probably no surprise that his company even built their own office building
[Speaking in Japanese]
Nice. His office works on a free desk system
so what do you need to do here ?
These days he goes to the office only once a week
and when he does he needs to get approval from the company
apparently this system started as part of their COVID prevention
but now it's become part of their labor reform initiative
so while in the office he also talks to vendors fills out building forms
invoices reviews change requests basically taking care of general admin work
now he has a meeting with the designer to double check some items
brought to light from today's site work
What's that ?
Joutou is a traditional Japanese ceremony
held when the framework of a house is completed
sake salt and rice are spread at the corners of the house to pray for safe construction
as well as to cleanse and purify it
oh it looks like he's getting advice from a senior co-worker about his current project
so it looks like Yuya has a little bit more office work
so while he does that let's go do what we do and explore this place
Hi can I ask you a question ?
What are you doing right now ?
Oh ! You are a designer ?
How long have you been with the company ?
What's this ?
How long did it take you to design and plan ?
How many houses do you design in a year ?
Look at this room
I wonder what they do here ?
Excuse me
What's this room?
How many are there?
I can see why they call this smart control center
as it monitors all of their houses and buildings under construction
using 360 degree cameras on-site
video is even archived so they can go back at any point in time
Are you always alone in this room ?
In fact the morning meeting was held from this room
Its says living salon I wonder what this is !!
Hello !! What's this place ?
so in their showroom customers planning to build new homes
can physically check their space requirements using these moving walls
In Japan
space is generally tight
so every centimeter counts
At the same
time this space allows customers to preview building materials
configurations and finishes
they've even got mini toilets
On the same floor but outside
their showroom has demo garden configurations
so customers can experience it in natural sunlight
that's convenient
Do you still need to do something ?
Yay !! Finally done for the day
On the way back home he stops by his favorite Bento shop
Whoa !! I guess he's having Karaage for dinner
That looks amazing !!
Do you always buy Bento's at the shop ?
Yuya says that before COVID he often went out to dinner with his co-workers
but now he meets them online for a drink
which is scheduled for later tonight
so he has a bit more time before everyone gets online
so he works on one of his hobbies photography
Oh wow !! That looks so cool
Where did you take that ?
Nice. I guess his work classmates are online now
all right it looks like Yuya's going to be drinking until maybe 10 o'clock tonight
and then after that probably go to sleep at 11
but this is pretty much a day in the life of a Japanese homebuilder
let me know what you thought in the comments
if you guys like this video like always help me out and hit that like button
if you guys want to help support the channel
then definitely check out the Japan merch
if you guys want to see what I'm doing on the daily then check out my Instagram account
and if you guys want to see more videos like this or anything related to Japan
hit that subscribe button and the bell button and I'll catch you guys in the next one