Danchi

Danchi 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, 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. It introduced the Japanese salaryman to a life around the nuclear family in contrast with the multi-generation homes before the war. 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 typical layout of a danchi unit is a "2DK" format with a dining-kitchen area and two bedrooms.

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