THE modern world is full of Japanese vehicles, electronic items and construction equipment mainly because the thinking is that if it is built in Japan, it works. Thanks to revelations from a parliamentary investigation in Tokyo, however, this reputation for reliability stands to be rocked, all too literally. A Japanese architect has confessed to legislators that he cut corners on safety and designed 71 buildings which did not meet the country’s stringent construction guidelines which have been introduced since the disastrous 1995 Kobe earthquake. Architect Hidetsugu Aneha fingered construction company Kimura, claiming that they had demanded he cut costs by seriously breaching building safety regulations. For its part, the company has only admitted that it demanded its architect cut costs, not safety. Other companies also appear to have hired Aneha and perhaps flouted the rules. There are further suspicions that Aneha may not be the only architect who has indulged in this very disturbing malpractice.

The architect covered his crime by providing false design safety data to government inspectors. He has lamely claimed that he had expected that because the falsifications were so obvious, the officials would have picked them up easily. Instead, he maintains, they did not bother to examine the work closely. What makes this crime — for crime it surely is — so shocking is not that it took place but that it would almost inevitably have come to light during the next serious earthquake in this earthquake-prone country. The greed of those involved would have been paid for by the deaths of, and injuries to, the unfortunate occupants of the buildings which included both offices and apartment blocks. Japan is seen as the ultimate ordered society with punctual trains, spotless streets and even gangsters, the yakuza, who conform to a strict code of behavior. But of course like all stereotypes, these are not entirely correct. Japan may be more organized than many countries but it certainly has its failings as well. It is extremely fortunate that the scandal of the country’s unsafely-designed buildings has broken before tragedy struck. We can only hope that all those involved will be fined and punished for putting their profits before the lives of thousands of people.

By contrast with Japan, Turkey is an emerging economy. It also is subject to devastating earthquakes, the last in 1991 near the industrial city of Izmit. Many buildings collapsed then because developers had ignored even basic planning rules — adding extra stories to structures which were already incapable of resisting even moderate tremors. Largely as a result of this, some 13,500 people died and over 27,000 were injured in the devastating earthquake. The authorities vowed to prosecute builders and architects, but in the event only a few cases came to court. An initiative to review modern structures at risk in Istanbul with its 12 million inhabitants also petered out. Though such countries as Turkey may not have the same financial resources nor the parliamentary investigative machinery of the Japanese, there is simply no excuse for any new construction in earthquake zones to be undertaken without proper safety design. Building officials in Turkey, Japan and elsewhere should be enforcing the rules.