Seaweed Breakfast
by Saleem Reshamwala
Mixed-up Indian-Japanese kid, raised on nan and udon... Now in ...
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The Tax That Made the Porches Thin
July 13, 2009 @ 10:15 AM | Permalink
Someone in my neighborhood is building a house, a very big, very grand, very American-style house. It has a porch and a driveway a sign in front that has the name of the house on it.
Yesterday, I was disparaging that house.
"That porch is fake," I said to my friend T-san.
"What do you mean?"
"I grew up in the (American) South. We used to sit on our neighbor's porch and drink ice-tea out of big jars," I said. "A porch is for neighbors to visit you, and no neighbors can fit on that porch."
"Why not?" he asked.
"Because it's too thin. Which makes it fake."
"Oh, he said. "That's probably because of the porch tax."
"Porch tax?"
And he explained that it was actually more accurately called a "luxury tax," and if you had something that was unnecessariously luxurious (like a Western-style porch), then the tax-man might come to your house when it was being built, and figure out how to tax it.
A wide porch would definitely get hit by a luxury tax, but a thin porch might be okay.
"But what about my house?" I asked. The house I rent is tiny, but has a nice little patio that we barbecue on all the time.
"That's just a regular patio, not a luxury," he said.
Which is true. It is, however, a really nice place to yaki-niku (grilled meat) in the Japanese summer.
---
AND SO, AN APOLOGY:
Neighbor's Very Thin Porch Of Limited Welcoming Potential, I am sorry I disparaged you. In a place with limited land, you were just being tax-efficient.
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Comments
Posted on 7/17/2009 by
Chantal Panozzo
In certain European countries, they used to tax people based on how wide their houses were. So people built narrow houses that went really deep. It's interesting to learn how these kind of laws influence the architecture. Are there other restrictions or taxes on "luxuries" in Japan?
Posted on 8/03/2009 by
Saleem Reshamwala
One that's not quite a tax but has a similar odd consequence: At the end of each year, any government construction funds that a state doesn't use get cut from the next year's budget (i.e. if you don't use it, it's assumed you don't need it). So, there are building flurries that sometimes result in beautiful bridges and massive roads in place countryside areas that don't see much traffic.
Posted on 10/27/2009 by
Ali Ahmed
I like the dialogue, the story layout of your post, great stuff. But I like your description of a mixed kid even more, if that's ok to say here. You can really see the cultural differences between the two backgrounds but it's always great when they come even a bit close to being similar. If you don't mind my asking, what program of studies are you in? Just curious, thought I'd get a glimpse of what the correspondents are doing.
Posted on 10/27/2009 by
Saleem Reshamwala
Thanks, Ali. I was in the JET Programme when I wrote this. Now I'm back in the States for a couple of months, then back to Japan for a 4 month stint working on Peace Boat.
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