How old is your home?

Unless a disaster strikes, it is not unusual for a  home in the U.S. to last over a century.

But as an article in The Robb Report points out, homes in Japan are built to last a mere 22 years.

"The Western concept of a residence as a stable and secure long-term investment—more tree than flower—that will gradually increase in value over time directly opposes the Japanese view, which sees a house as a temporary structure that expires with its owner. A Japanese building is a short-lived consumer product, not so different from a car or an iPhone, that undergoes a period of fixed-term depreciation, set by the government at 22 years, after which it’s considered fit for the scrap heap. If an Englishman’s—or Westener’s—home is his castle, a Japanese one is a worthless piece of single-use plastic." 

My house is 110 years young, and short of a disaster, it likely will last another century or more.