Section 1. Post-War Reconstruction

3. Building Facility Restoration and the Lifting of Rent Controls

Although our buildings were not directly damaged by wartime raids, the war’s impact was not insignificant. The elevators and air conditioning units had been removed due to the Metal Collection Act, which severely compromised their functionality as office buildings. The Daibiru-Shinkan Building looked sick due to its camouflage exterior and the scars from firebombs. It had been damaged from its conversion to a factory, and the linoleum floors had been trampled by army boots.

Under these circumstances, the company worked hard to restore the building in the face of post-war inflation and supply shortages. They started by painting the common areas. This was followed by replacing door handles and door closers, relaying the linoleum, and restoring the window glass. A considerable amount of restoration had been completed a bit more than a year after the end of the war.

The company continued to work hard on completely restoring its buildings despite the challenge of raising funds and procuring supplies. One elevator was installed in the Daibiru-Shinkan Building in April 1949, and one was installed in the Daibiru-Honkan Building in July 1950, a year later. In November 1950, the remaining three elevators were restored. Restoration work on the Shin-Daibiru Building’s air conditioning equipment was completed in October 1950, in time to heat the building that year. While these efforts were underway, the room interiors were repainted and the exterior camouflage was washed off to remove the wartime colors from the Daibiru Buildings.

After the war, the decline in productivity and the shortage of goods led to extreme inflation, and prices continued to soar. Nevertheless, rental rates were still controlled by the Rent Control Act, which had been instituted before the war, causing hardship for building rental companies. The Rent Control Act was revised on September 28, 1946 and took effect on October 1, but its application was less strict, and increases in rental rates could be approved upon examination after applying to the prefectural governor.

On that basis, the company submitted an application to increase rental rates (room rates) to the governor of Osaka on June 30, 1946. The application was approved on September 18 of that year, and the rental rate for a standard floor was revised from 9.50 yen per tsubo (about 3.3 m²) to 23.75 yen, an increase of 150%. This greatly increased the company’s rental income.

The Rent Control Act was revised again on July 11, 1950, so that rental rates for office buildings were no longer subject to the Act.