Quote Originally Posted by nurizeko
I wouldnt mind a japanese house if i lived in the tropics or a part of the world thats always hot, since tis stylish and technically should help towards keeping the home cool?.
Okinawa may be tropical, but most of Japan has cold winters with snow and frost. In Hokkaido it is as cold as the Scottish Highlands (i.e. -20 degree is not unusual).

Secondly, your image of stylish Japanese houses is probably inherited from pictures you saw in travel magazines or guide books - basically temples or pavillions built several centuries ago and not inhabited by anyone nowadays. When talking about wooden Japanese houses, it is closer to that in average :



Some have corrugated iron to hide the wood :



No, these pictures were not taken in Bangkok but in central Tokyo near where I live. The newer houses (i.e. those that actually look like houses) are almost covered by concrete. They are either flat-roofed with "toilet tiles covering the outside walls, or built in Western style (similar to the US or Australia) with painted walls. Maybe you want to have a look at the Photo Gallery.

Btw, wooden houses are not cool at all in summer. The one where I live is mostly wooden and it's extremely hot and humid during all summer without air conditioning (basically sweat drops immediately come running along my face as soon as I enter the house if there is no air-con). In winter it is so cold that I got frost bites at my feet at night, or during the day from staying in front of the PC (even with air conditioning !). The funny thing is that it doesn't really freeze in winter in Tokyo (around 0'C on a cold day).