＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:https://skawa68.com/
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
Typhoon No. 21, which hit Western Japan on September 4, 2018, was the third largest typhoon in history after the Isewan Typhoon in 1959 (Showa 34) and the Second Muroto Typhoon in 1961 (Showa 36). This typhoon caused a lot of damage to homes in Takatsuki City. Even now, there are still many houses with blue tarps on their roofs.
1. “Kamikaze” for construction companies, roofing companies, and waterproofing companies
Typhoon No. 21 appears to have brought about an unexpected “special boom” for construction companies, roofing contractors, waterproofing contractors, and others, although it would be misleading to call it a “Kamikaze（divine wind）”
Even if victims ask contractors to repair their roofs, they are being inundated with hundreds of repair requests and are overwhelmed.
They don’t know when the repairs will be completed. It’s certainly not possible within the year, and they can’t guarantee that they will be completed by the end of March next year.
This is thought to be due to the fact that the number of roofers (including repair workers) was originally small, and yet the industry was suddenly inundated with a large number of orders for roof repairs.
Additionally, the frequent occurrence of damage from earthquakes and storms and floods across the country in 2018 also appears to have contributed to this.
Those affected are worried because unless the construction is completed by the end of March 2019, they will not be able to receive Takatsuki City’s “Typhoon Damage Repair Cost Subsidy” (support for repair work for “partial damage” or more).
If many repair work is delayed until fiscal 2019, I think Takatsuki City may consider some kind of budgetary measures, but we cannot know for sure yet.
2. “Unscrupulous” and “bad” businesses are appearing
By the way, I have heard that there are some “unscrupulous” and “bad” businesses out there taking advantage of the plight of these victims to repair roofs damaged by the typhoon.
There have always been “unscrupulous contractors” when it comes to roof repairs.
They visit each house saying, “We will inspect your roof for free,” and lure people with lines like, “Your neighbors have also had it inspected,” or, “Don’t worry, we’ll take a video and show it to you,” and once the household agrees to let the contractor climb onto their roof, the “unscrupulous contractor” deliberately breaks intact tiles, then shows a video of a completely different house with broken tiles, and says, “Several tiles are broken. If you leave it like this, it will start leaking, so you’ll need to replace the tiles and do waterproofing work,” deceiving the householder and charging them an exorbitant fee for “roof repairs and waterproofing work.” This is malicious “door-to-door sales.”
Taking advantage of the fact that roof repair and waterproofing contractors are unable to handle all the requests due to the recent typhoon and the Northern Osaka Earthquake on June 18th, it appears that they are plotting to make illegal profits using the same methods.
3. Insurance companies are apparently creating “blacklists” of unscrupulous companies
In response to this, insurance companies are creating “blacklists” of unscrupulous companies, and there are rumors that they will “refuse to pay out” insurance claims for repairs carried out by such companies.
If this rumor is true, there is a risk that if you fall prey to an unscrupulous company, you will have to pay the company but will not receive any insurance money.
4. Get multiple quotes and make a comprehensive judgment based on the “trustworthiness of the contractor” and the “quoted price.”
Therefore, if you are thinking about requesting roof repairs or waterproofing work, or if you have already requested it but are at a loss as no one knows when it will be completed, it is best not to request a new request over the phone from a contractor you have not seen before.
You should hire a local construction company or roofing contractor that you know well, or a large, reliable contractor. At this point, I think you are not even able to get an estimate, let alone have them come to see the site, but when you are able to, you should get multiple estimates and make a comprehensive judgment based on the contractor’s credibility and the estimated amount before deciding which contractor to hire.
It is best to consult with the insurance company beforehand when the estimate is given. It may also be a good idea to consult with the Japan Housing Construction Management Association.
5. We want the government to take action
We hope that the Consumer Affairs Agency, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and prefectures will step in to protect consumers from “secondary victimization” by publicizing unscrupulous businesses and revoking licenses and permits for roofing and waterproofing construction businesses, as well as suspending their operations.
However, unscrupulous businesses may not even be licensed to begin with. Since insurance companies are private companies, I don’t think they can publish a “blacklist” of unscrupulous businesses that they have created, but I would like them to work together with the public and private sectors to eradicate unscrupulous businesses, such as by providing information to the Consumer Affairs Agency.
If you know of any other good ideas, please let me know.