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Neighbors lose legal battle against unsightly house

January 29th, 2009 by James

The Tokyo District Court has thrown out a lawsuit filed by residents of an upscale neighborhood who were horrified by manga artist Kazuo Umezu’s red-and-white striped house:

monster-house

“The coloring does catch the eye of those living around it, but it can’t be said it destroys the harmony of the landscape,” the judge said.

Umezu, who listened to the ruling wearing a red-and-white horizontal striped tie, indicated he was happy with the decision.

“I received a favorable result, and I feel that spring has come a little early. I think time will solve things (with the local residents),” he said.

A March 2008 Japan Probe poll found that nearly 70% of readers found Umezu’s house to be “not ugly,” so only about 30% of you should be disappointed by the court’s ruling.

[via AltJapan]

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19 Comments »

Comment by Montsan
2009-01-29 06:47:21

Looking at that house, I suddenly feel the urge to plow the fields and get a haircut at the same time.

 
Comment by helical
2009-01-29 07:56:25

So glad the courts didn’t side with the trolls.

 
Comment by hl
2009-01-29 08:22:31

Barn-ish, but kind of cool.

 
Comment by flammen
2009-01-29 08:29:37

Good, I like it and I am glad the judge didn’t buy into the petty superficial arguments of the neighbours…
The boring dull grey and brown boxes that the neighbours live in perfectly sum up their shallow boring lives.
Shame they couldn’t do something constructive with their lives like campaigning against utility poles and the associated wires that truly “destroys the harmony of the landscape”.

Comment by Dangomushi
2009-01-29 09:17:43

What are you talking about? I think utility poles are quite beautiful!

Comment by helical
2009-01-29 09:45:37

Glad to know I’m not the one who appreciates the cluttered aesthetic of urban landscapes :)

(Comments wont nest below this level)
Comment by helical
2009-01-29 10:20:04

Sorry, I meant to say “I’m not the *only* one”.

 
 
 
 
Comment by ZenBuilder
2009-01-29 14:21:19

That house is in my nighbourhood.
Been past it a few times, the pic makes it look worse than it actually is.

In the same road you also got some older houses that are fairly run-down and look way worse.
Which is suprising as the area is a rather rich one with many so called “Celebrities” living there.

Plus, anyone that kniow him or met him, knows that red/white stripes are his trademark that he even carries over into his clothings.

Glad he won, the house acutally is a breath of fresh air and looks very nice.
You can see it also from Inokashira-line.

Comment by Haf
2009-01-29 15:24:57

Well if this is not even the chocolate side of the house then I can’t see why any sane person would go to court for it. Maybe it’s not really about the house. Maybe the actually just don’t like him.

 
Comment by t baggers
2009-10-10 07:52:29

zenbuilder is nothing but a liar. I know him and he is not a person to believe. He molests children.

 
 
Comment by Dangomushi
2009-01-29 16:42:20

Oh! I just realized who this is… funny, I’ve been buying and reading the Drifting Classroom books lately… finally put two and two together!

 
Comment by Mary Witzl
2009-01-29 17:00:59

In a country where zoning laws hardly seem to apply, where garish pachinko parlors are practically next door to temples and nursery schools are cheek-by-jowl with dry cleaners, I’m amazed that people got upset over this. Hope they never go to Barcelona. Or come to think of it, Los Angeles.

Comment by The Overthinker
2009-01-29 18:06:24

Zoning laws definitely do exist in Japan. However in many cases some of the more interesting clashes are because the businesses are older than the zones. However I am not sure what zoning law would prevent pachinko parlours from being built beside temples.

 
 
Comment by Alex
2009-01-29 19:50:28

“The house is an eyesore that needs to be taken care of,” commented one local woman guilty of hanging out her granny panties to dry on her balcony on an almost daily basis.

 
Comment by Timothy
2009-01-29 22:37:01

ugly houses will bring down the market value of neighboring houses. But, I still think that house looks awesome.

 
Comment by TofuUnion
2009-01-30 00:01:44

Yeah too bright red color, but I find the house rather nice.

Those who criticized the house have to know how luck they are. Because there are so many areas where there are really ugly houses and buildings near the resident.

 
Comment by s
2009-01-30 10:12:19

I think it’s kind of cute. I’d love to see a house like that in my neighborhood.

 
Comment by t baggers
2009-10-10 07:53:09

zenbuilder is a liar

 
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