Chiba, February

Disqualified architect Hidetsugu Aneha has admitted that's he's "not so busy" since he confessed to falsifying data on over a hundred buildings nationwide last December. Aneha, 48, has been keeping a low profile at his plush office in Ichikawa, Chiba, since the scandal, designing only a handful of buildings under the table.

"It's been a quiet time," the architect said, sporting an Aderans hairpiece c.1987. "It could be a decline in the recent building boom that's to blame, or just a natural fluctuation in the market. One can never be sure."
Aneha famously claimed to be "too busy" to think about whether his architectural short cuts were right or wrong. The deliberate reduction of reinforced steel in buildings he designed was responsible for the condemnation of buildings in 18 prefectures, and led to a nationwide scandal. Just who should take responsibility is a question still under debate.

"Well, it's certainly not me," remarked Aneha, touching down his polyester combover with a bit of spit. "I paid the 500,000 yen fine as required and am back in business, albeit illegally."
Office buildings, hotels and condominiums throughout the country were declared uninhabitable after tests showed they were structurally unable to resist earthquakes of magnitude 7 on the Japanese scale. Former residents have demanded compensation, but so far it has not been determined who should provide it.

Meanwhile, Aneha, safe in his stable Chiba office has been accepting contracts from city halls and government offices for new buildings.
"Luckily there are still a few people out there willing to accept that cost goes hand in hand with quality," he said. "So don't go crying to me when you get crushed in the rubble trying to pay your pension. I've got so much free time on my hands I don't know what the fuck I'm doing."

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