ISTR some time a few decades ago when a westerner, commenting on Japan, described the people there as living in “rabbit hutch housing” (i.e. really cramped residences).
Googling brings up mentions of this description, but I can’t seem to find who said it, or when it was said. My recollection was that it caused a bit of a stir at the time.
Anyone know what I’m talking about? Hell, do I even know what I’m talking about?
I found The Thorn in the Chrysanthemum Suicide and Economic Success in Modern Japan by Mamoru Iga, from 1986, so that fits your time frame. Iga says “represented by their very constricted but expensive living conditions (which are called “rabbit hutch” housing by Westerners).” So he didn’t coin the term, but he did put it in print.
It seems like a natural comparison, so it may not be attributable to a single origin. I’m not sure why it would have “caused a bit of a stir”. I have heard(and probably said similar) terms like ‘anthill’ used to describe close-quarter living such as Manhattan-like apartment buildings.
Perhaps any controversy you recall was about Iga’s assertions(garnered by a quick scan - I didn’t read it) about the Japanese lifestyle and suicide?
I thought ‘rabbit hutch’ was a term used for any kind of confined living space, not just Japanese houses. I reckon I’ve lived in a few in my time.
I think Japan does it to another level though. I thought our one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco was pretty rabbit-hutch-ey, as highlighted by the fact the only dishwasher we could fit in it was a tiny counter-top one that attached to the taps. We had a Japanese friend over and he was said (without any irony): “Wow, this dishwasher is huge!”
I found a claim on a Japanese discussion board:
Rough translation:
[quote]
The description “cages à lapns” was used in a 1979 EC Economic Strategy Report for Japan" (Google says the French translates as “rabbit cages”)
Urban apartment [and condo] buildings are called “cages à lapns” in French, but it was mistakenly translated as “like a rabbit hutch”.
[quote]
I can’t verify this account and it’s from a message board which I’m not familiar, so I have no idea if this is accurate or an urban legend.
Someone familiar with French may be able to verify the slang usage.
Same story, different board, blaming the same paper:
Building off @TokyoBayer’s ideas …
In English, some folks have described high rise condo living, regardless of country, as living in pigeon holes. Just from the repetitive rectilinear image of identical narrow boxes stacked high and wide.
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbm=isch&source=hp&q=pigeon+hole+condo
Is perhaps “rabbit hutch” a French (or other language) colloquialism just to refer to repetitive multifamily designs? As “pigeon hole” is in English? Certainly people who keep large numbers of rabbits often arrange the cages the same way.
Sure; citing Larousse, cage/cabane à lapins = large apartment building of uniform/repetitive aspect; housing in this type of building, aka pigeon-hole condo
cage à poules = cramped/confined housing
ETA why would this be an urban legend? It’s trivial to verify.
Not that the French phrase is used for such housing, but that a mistranslation or misunderstanding of the French was the source of the English expression. It could be an independent development, for example.
Looking online, I found a dictionary entry which claims that reports states [my translation from the Japanese]
IOW, the report is saying that the Japanese live in small homes, rather than simply stating that many live in apartments/condos.
The site seems to be made by an amateur, so I have no idea if it is authoritative or not. I haven’t been able to find the report online (well, a couple of halfhearted tries isn’t the most noble of attempts, but it doesn’t seem to be something which is likely to be found).
If this entry is accurate, then the 1978 white paper would be a good candidate.
I moved (again) to Japan in 1990 in the height of the Japan economic bubble when the stock market and real estate prices were sky high, and I heard the expression in Japanese frequently.
Japanese themselves loved to point out the ridiculous nature of the Japanese housing situation, especially in the major cities, so I wouldn’t discount the possibility that the phrase originated from Japanese usage.
Here is a graph of the concentration of urban population in Japan.
In 1940 on the eve of WWII, 63% of the population was rural, while in 1960 it was revered. By 1973, the percentage of the urban population had skyrocketed to about 75.7% and then slowly increased to 78.6% in 1990, when it sharply grew again to its current 91.1%.
The jump in the 60s and 70s came in part from the increased industrialization and concentration of manufacturing in the larger cities, and Japan required a large amount of new housing, a saw the construction of large multifamily buildings which the individual units were quite small. Around 1990 to 1991, I looked at a number of apartments in Tokyo that were built in that era. The bubble made even those tiny places quite expensive.
The French is pretty clearly talking about large collective apartment blocks. Individual houses would not count, no matter how small. But in any case I don’t imagine the Tokyo high rise units in question are so spacious. Do you have the original link to or quote from or title of the original report?
As I said, I could not find the original. In Japanese, it’s referred to as a 1979 対日経済戦略報告書 Economic Strategy Report on Japan.
The two cites on the internet seem to be at odds, and I’m not sure which is more likely.