Photo/Illutration Debris from a collapsed house cascaded onto the plot of a neighboring apartment building on Sept. 30 in Tokyo’s Suginami Ward. (Takashi Endo)

A nearly 60-year-old house in Tokyo's Suginami Ward collapsed after its retaining wall gave way, confirming years of concern from local residents about its safety.

The collapse occurred on Sept. 30, just days after the homeowner told officials a contractor had been found to reinforce the wall.

Along with sending a torrent of debris onto an adjacent property, the incident has sparked renewed concern over aging residential infrastructure. In this case, local residents had warned that the wall was dangerous for years.

Ward officials confirmed they were aware of the wall's hazardous condition for at least several years and had repeatedly instructed the owner to reinforce it.

OWNER WAS HOME

According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s Takaido Police Station, an emergency call was placed around 7:20 p.m. on Sept. 30, reporting that “a house is collapsing” in the ward’s Horinouchi district. 

The 57-year-old two-story wooden house was built on top of a retaining wall that measured approximately 4 to 5 meters tall and spanned 78 square meters. 

The owner, a man in his 50s who lived there with his son, safely evacuated after noticing something was wrong.

TERRIFYING CRUNCHING SOUND

While none of the adjacent apartment building's residents were injured, some families were forced to evacuate to hotels. The building had been completed just one year prior.

The site of the collapse is within a tranquil residential area filled with apartment buildings and single-family homes that are near a river and a park.

A woman living on the first floor was in her living room with her husband, about to have dinner as usual, when they suddenly heard a loud bang and felt the room shake.

“What happened?” she wondered. Stepping onto her balcony to find the source of the noise, she was confronted with the sight of the retaining wall crumbling across the way.

Shaken, she returned to her living room. A few moments later, a terrifying crunching sound echoed through the apartment.

Rushing back to the balcony, she saw that debris from the collapsed house was now pressing right up against her home, reaching the top of her balcony wall.

The woman could only say, “What is this?” 

A concerned neighbor in the next unit called out from their own balcony, “Are you OK?” Her husband could barely manage to reply, “We're OK!”

More debris, including roof tiles, continued to pile up against the balcony. At first, she could peek through gaps in the wreckage to see outside, but soon her view was completely blocked.

The woman’s apartment sustained minimal damage—just a few overturned flower pots—and the couple was unhurt. They stayed with their child who lives nearby for the night before returning home the next day.

However, the view remains obstructed and she said she had no idea when the debris would be removed.

“I guess we'll be living without a view of the sky for a while,” she said. “I just want to return to our normal lives as soon as possible.”

YEARS OF WARNINGS

According to Suginami Ward officials, they had received multiple inquiries from concerned local residents about the retaining wall for the past several years, at minimum. 

The ward agreed, issuing both written and verbal instructions to the homeowner to reinforce the wall.

Just last week, the owner had contacted them saying, “I have found a contractor who can do the work.”

The wall collapsed shortly after he notified the ward.

Suginami Ward stated that it will now consult with the homeowner on removing the debris on the road and elsewhere. 

Officials acknowledged that similar cases exist across the ward, with homeowners already instructed to reinforce aging retaining walls. They announced plans to conduct emergency inspections throughout the ward.

(This article was written by Tomomi Terasawa, Takashi Endo and Kaho Matsuda.)

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