March 2nd, when the coronavirus was not yet widespread in the United States. I had the opportunity to give a lecture as part of an East Asian Studies class at the University of Chicago. At the same time as explaining the renovation of Nagaya in Osaka and its utilization, I also introduced examples of renovations in Dairen of China, South Korea and Taiwan and their rarity value. I also talked about the commonalities of the social issues behind the renovation. I was very impressed by the question from Asian students as to whether it is meaningful to preserve Japanese housing from the historical background of Asia.


I had a great opportunity to present. The class was threatened by the influence of the coronavirus, but it was successfully held which I talked about using historical buildings in East Asia.