In Japan you can find houses both modern and traditional. At the present time the modification of the housing in Japan is really significant. Lifestyles in Japan changed dramatically after World War II, when large numbers of people moved from the countryside to the cities to make their livings as office workers. As cities grew in both size and population, more and more people commuted from their apartments or houses in the suburbs to their workplaces in central areas. While a traditional Japanese household consists of three or more generations of the same family living under one roof, urban households today tend to consist of parents and children, with grandparents living elsewhere. Now Japanese people are living in modern houses as well as in traditional style houses. History: Japanese traditional houses are one of the major parts of Japanese architecture. It has an extensive history, like much of the art and culture of the Japanese. In ancient Japan, basically there were two different types of houses. The first one is known as a pit-dwelling house, in which a first a big hole was dug on the ground and then the columns were inserted, surrounded by grass. The second was built with the floor raised above the ground. The style of this kind of houses came from Southeast Asia and was mostly used to store grain and other foods so that they would not get damaged from heat and humidity. In the eleventh century a new style of house was developed called Shiden-zukuri. It had connected rooms with long hallway. It was convenient for the residents to enjoy seasonal events and the beauty of nature. When the Samurai reigned, they created their own style of house called Shoin-zukuri. The general civilians developed their houses differently. Farmers in different regions in Japan had houses that were adapted to local conditions.