日本长期以来奉行「拆毁并重建」的建筑模式，2022年被拆除的东京中银胶囊塔便是典型例子。美国建筑师娜欧蜜·波拉克在《消失的日本：已逝但未被遗忘的现代建筑》一书中记录了战后建设热潮中诞生却在数十年后遭拆除的众多建筑。那是一个充满活力的年代，建筑师们一方面引进西方现代主义与混凝土技术，另一方面如丹下健三等人则致力于探索具日本本土特色的现代建筑表现形式，并在全国各地兴建了市政厅、博物馆与「会馆」（社区中心）等深植于日常生活的建筑。

这些战后建筑之所以大量消失，主要原因包括自然耗损与功能过时、严格的抗震安全检查，以及背后的经济利益考量。波拉克指出，结构工程师认为抗震问题常被当作拆除重建的借口，因为全面翻修与抗震加固成本高昂，开发商与政府机构往往认为拆除并建造更大、更具商业价值的建筑更为划算。此外，日本文化中「物哀」（万物无常）的观念以及对新事物的持续渴望，也推动了这种不断更新的都市循环。

然而，波拉克主张日本应在保存与更新之间取得更好的平衡，透过翻修与转型赋予老建筑新生命。近年来，年轻一代开始重视老建筑的价值，建筑保存运动也逐渐兴起，例如针对1964年奥运场馆重建的争议，以及民间为挽救丹下健三设计的香川县立体育馆所发起的募资与诉讼。尽管香川县立体育馆最终仍面临拆除，但像旧伊贺市役所转型为图书馆与精品酒店、旧奈良监狱改建为星野集团酒店等成功案例，证明了深具历史与建筑意义的空间完全可以透过再利用得以保存。

Japan has long practiced a "scrap-and-build" approach to architecture, exemplified by the 2022 demolition of Tokyo's Nakagin Capsule Tower. In her book "Vanishing Japan: Modern Architecture, Gone But Not Forgotten," American architect Naomi Pollock documents numerous buildings erected during the exuberant post-war construction frenzy only to be torn down decades later. During that era, architects either brought back Western Modernist concrete techniques or, like Kenzo Tange, sought indigenous Japanese expressions of modernity, creating structures embedded in daily life across the country such as city halls, museums, and local community centers known as kaikan.

The widespread destruction of these post-war buildings is driven by natural wear and tear, obsolete functions, strict earthquake safety checks, and underlying financial calculations. Pollock notes that structural engineers admit quake-proofing is frequently used as an excuse to demolish, as retrofitting is costly and building anew is often seen as cheaper or more profitable. Furthermore, the traditional Japanese concept of mono no aware (impermanence) and a historical appetite for the new have long fueled this continuous cycle of urban turnover.

Nevertheless, Pollock argues that Japan should strike a better balance between conservation and renewal by renovating and repurposing significant structures. Recently, younger generations have shown greater appreciation for older architecture, and preservation activism has grown, seen in protests over the 1964 Olympic Stadium redevelopment and legal battles to save Tange's Kagawa Prefectural Gymnasium. Although the Kagawa gymnasium ultimately faced demolition, successful adaptive reuse projects—such as converting the former Iga city hall into a public library and boutique hotel, and transforming the former Nara prison into a hotel—demonstrate viable ways to preserve architecturally significant spaces.