Japanese housing manufacturers head for other Asian markets to make up for shrinking business at home

Japanese housing manufacturers are strengthening their overseas businesses, tapping into potential growth in China and other Asian countries as demand for new construction declines in the shrinking domestic market.

Property developers such as Panasonic Homes Co. and Daiwa House Industry Co. have been trying to meet a variety of overseas needs, from single homes to condominiums and prefabricated flats for construction workers.

“We want to improve the severe housing environment for construction labourers in China, which has also become a social issue,” Daizo Ito, managing executive officer of Panasonic Corp., said when he visited a construction site in China’s Xian in mid-September.

In a departure from makeshift flats, notorious for poor air and sanitary conditions, Panasonic set up prefabricated housing for construction workers, with glassed-in outer walls and well-lit, heatproof rooms, pitching comfort for long-term lodgers.

The buildings are also equipped with solar panels and heat-insulating materials, helping local general contractors reduce costs.