Tuesday
Jul082008
Toyota Homes
Tuesday, July 8, 2008 at 7:28PM 
Prefab housing is a tiny portion of the Toyota empire but the company is hoping to see a lot of growth in this industry in the next few years. Prefabricated housing is still a niche market in the United States but in Japan it's the standard in single-family homes. The homes are infinitely customizable, stylish and, more and more, eco-friendly. Assembly takes place largely in factories, and in high-tech home companies like Misawa Homes, assembly may be entirely automated, driving down costs to both producer and consumer.
Reader Comments (1)
There's a kind of model home part right next to where I'm staying right now: you can go there and see model homes from a bunch of builders, all at once. It's like going to a store, to buy a new house. I'll take some pictures.
Maybe 200 meters away, there is a huge monstrosity of a home center, as if someone plucked up a Home Depot from the US and plopped it down in Kawagoe, Japan. Except that this place seems bigger. Maybe it's the context.
Also, after being in Japan for a couple weeks, you get used to the idea that companies you associate with certain products (Panasonic and consumer electronics, for example) also make prefab bathrooms and bicycles.