The Housing Research Foundation, known in Japan as "Jusoken," was founded in 1948 by the late Yasuo Shimizu, former president of Shimizu Corporation, as a non-profit organization.
Following the World War 2nd, Japan experienced a severe and prolonged housing shortage. Mr. Shimizu's genuine concern for this problem led him to fund and establish an organization that would study the housing and related situation and develop innovative solutions. He believed that for the undertaking to be successful, it would need to encompass the whole of Japanese society.
In its early stages, the business of the foundation was hampered by the very high inflation of those times. However, by l972, having strengthened it's financial basis, the foundation changed it's contribution from alleviation of the housing shortage to housing research subsidizings. |
