[Intro Music Playing]

[ Mobile alarm goes off ]

This is Yuya

25 years old living in Tokyo and he's just waking up for work

he lives in this 1k apartment

which is about 25 square meters

just around the average for a single residence Tokyo apartment

27.4 square meters or about 295 square feet

although becoming less common these days in Japan

his apartment rent is partially covered by his company

a system called Jutaku Teate

House Allowance

The average housing allowance in Japan being about $150 per month

That said

It does help that his company constructed the apartment building he is living in

Do you always eat breakfast ?

How long does it take you to get ready ?

Yuya works as a home construction site manager

graduating from a four-year university focused in architecture

In fact he's been interested in architecture since he was in elementary school

so much so that he wrote it in his yearbook

[ Speaks Japanese ]

Yuya's apartment is relatively far from the train station by Tokyo standards

so he usually takes a bus first to get to the train station

and then rides a train to work

so this morning instead of going to the office

he commutes directly to the construction site

which is often the case and why it's commute times

varies depending on the project

Good Morning everyone !!

I'm back with another day in the life

and today we are building a house

Yuya should be coming on the next train

let's see how he's doing this morning

Good Morning !!

How do you sleep last night ?

Yuya works at Daiwa House

one of the top home builders in Japan

building 7000 homes each year

with a total of about 17000 employees throughout Japan

What's that ?

KY stands for Kiken Yochi

Danger & Foresight

This form is commonly used on Japanese construction work sites

to help prevent human errors like miscommunication

or over exhaustion

as well as to promote a healthy and safe working environment

Oh it seems like more of the construction workers are arriving on site

They're all required to check in via facial recognition

as well as to take their body temperature

to verify that they're healthy enough to work

Now that all the workers have arrived

it's time for chore, their daily morning meeting

Like many other traditional Japanese companies

the construction workers also have morning exercises called Radio Taiso

to warm up and prevent injury before their physical work day ahead

a little different than many companies though

is that this meeting is connected to the headquarters

as well as other construction sites

so the Daiwa workers can exercise at the same time

all throughout Japan

as a part of the meeting

workers recite the company's philosophy

then they silently close their eyes and think about their family

and important things in their life as a reminder to work safely today

followed up by uniform inspection

At the construction site

there are also workers from other co-operative companies

so as a construction site manager

it's Yuya's responsibility to guide and communicate building plan requirements

to each party so the house is built to specification each and every time

This current project is a three-story home

designed to be a tenant occupied rental

with the owner living on the top floor

380 square meters of total living space

on a 132 square meters of land

all scheduled to complete within four months

after the morning meeting

the workers including Yuya start with a 10 minute cleaning

What about all the garbage ?

Japan is already fairly strict on waste management

but Yuya's company takes it one step further

for example they sort their waste into 19 recyclable categories

At the beginning of the day he performs a walkthrough

with the KY form

paying careful attention to the workers health condition

helmets and safety equipment are being properly used

and tools and materials are properly kept

What's that ?

since the workers will be using the scaffolding today

he inspects it beforehand to ensure it's safe to use

as he's responsible for injuries that occur on site

So Yuya is a Ni-Kyu Kenchikushi

a prefecture license certified second-class architect

which allows him to manage small housing construction

A first class license would allow for larger construction projects

such as Olympic stadiums

but would require passing a national qualifying exam

where only about 10% of the applicants are able to pass

What are you doing now ?

Throughout the day Yuya performs Junkai

which is a regular site walkthrough

to ensure all of the workers are completing each task to specification

apparently his company has strict and precise guidelines

to produce high quality homes

and each one undergoes three levels of inspection

one by him every day

then by his supervisor and finally by the quality assurance team

Oh he marked something !!

What was wrong ?

So, What your main responsibility ?

QCDSEM stands for Quality Cost Delivery Safety Environment & Morale

Where are you going now ?

Nice he's picking up drinks for everyone

Now he takes a 30 minute break with the workers

so construction work in Japan

also has a dark history where many are overworked to the point of exhaustion

so it's his responsibility to ensure that everyone under his supervision

gets enough rest

Isn't it hot in the summer ?

you guys don't use a fan ?

now back to work

What are you guys checking right now ?

WOW !! This building plan has over 200 pages

It's also Yuya's responsibility

to know every detail about the building plan

so he can clarify any questions from the construction workers

What's this ?

This X-shaped structural brace is installed in all of their homes

as Japan is ranked fourth in the world for having earthquakes

so earthquake resistant building laws have been in place since 1924

and have been updated over the years

such as the Shin-Taishin standard

requiring that all buildings must be able to withstand a stage six seismic event

on Japan's seven stage seismic scale

so what would happen if there was an earthquake right now ?

Also Japanese homes are often built right next to each other

so they must adhere

to Japanese fireproofing laws

for example they must be able to tolerate fire

for at least one hour without collapsing

as well as contain inside fires from breaching outer walls and vice versa

even pipes traveling between floors

must be wrapped in a special fire retardant material

designed to melt during a fire

effectively sealing the hole and trapping the fire

so it looks like Yuya is going to be doing his inspection for a little bit longer

so while he's doing that let's do our own inspection

Okay look at this area

looks like the garage

I guess they're using it as a temporary storage spot for building materials

Can I ask you a question ?

What are you doing now ?

Apparently it's fairly detailed construction

since the pattern is a bit complicated

so he has to be careful

Hi what are you doing ?

Yay !! Lunchtime

Today he's decided to eat at a soba shop in the area

it looks like he's having one of their specialties

chicken nanban soba

do you always eat alone ?

I guess this is how life in Japan is these days

What's next after this ?

before workers come back he prepares the Sagyokan Renraku Chosei

a specific form workers need to fill out

to indicate what work needs to be done tomorrow

including the number of workers

Yuya is relatively young in the company

so he manages one project at a time

meaning he builds about three houses a year

but he continues to work hard

and builds his skills with goals to be able to manage several buildings at a time

What's your favorite part of your job ?

By the way

Yuya's company uses a prefabricated style of construction

where the raw materials such as board and planks are pre-cut at the factory

and delivered in exact quantities and then constructed all on-site

this allows them to build consistent

and high-quality homes in relatively shorter times

with minimal waste

What's that ?

I get your flow

It's usually hidden behind the wall so you don't get to see it

What's that ?

Oh I guess Yuya is leaving for the office

How far is the office from the station ?

and it's probably no surprise that his company even built their own office building

[Speaking in Japanese]

Nice. His office works on a free desk system

so what do you need to do here ?

These days he goes to the office only once a week

and when he does he needs to get approval from the company

apparently this system started as part of their COVID prevention

but now it's become part of their labor reform initiative

so while in the office he also talks to vendors fills out building forms

invoices reviews change requests basically taking care of general admin work

now he has a meeting with the designer to double check some items

brought to light from today's site work

What's that ?

Joutou is a traditional Japanese ceremony

held when the framework of a house is completed

sake salt and rice are spread at the corners of the house to pray for safe construction

as well as to cleanse and purify it

oh it looks like he's getting advice from a senior co-worker about his current project

so it looks like Yuya has a little bit more office work

so while he does that let's go do what we do and explore this place

Hi can I ask you a question ?

What are you doing right now ?

Oh ! You are a designer ?

How long have you been with the company ?

What's this ?

How long did it take you to design and plan ?

How many houses do you design in a year ?

Look at this room

I wonder what they do here ?

Excuse me

What's this room?

How many are there?

I can see why they call this smart control center

as it monitors all of their houses and buildings under construction

using 360 degree cameras on-site

video is even archived so they can go back at any point in time

Are you always alone in this room ?

In fact the morning meeting was held from this room

Its says living salon I wonder what this is !!

Hello !! What's this place ?

so in their showroom customers planning to build new homes

can physically check their space requirements using these moving walls

In Japan

space is generally tight

so every centimeter counts

At the same

time this space allows customers to preview building materials

configurations and finishes

they've even got mini toilets

On the same floor but outside

their showroom has demo garden configurations

so customers can experience it in natural sunlight

that's convenient

Do you still need to do something ?

Yay !! Finally done for the day

On the way back home he stops by his favorite Bento shop

Whoa !! I guess he's having Karaage for dinner

That looks amazing !!

Do you always buy Bento's at the shop ?

Yuya says that before COVID he often went out to dinner with his co-workers

but now he meets them online for a drink

which is scheduled for later tonight