<b></b><p></p><p><b><b>The Japanese housing industry is fundamentally different to ours, but could its ideas on quality and customer service be relevant in the UK? Allison Heller reports on the findings of a government sponsored mission to look at the way houses are built and marketed in the land of the rising sun</b></b><br><b>In an era of consumer power and customer satisfaction surveys, housebuilders are turning to all quarters to learn lessons that will improve quality and service in the industry. It has taken something of a change in mindset for developers to recognise that - despite differences in culture and industry set-up - other countries may offer ideas that can benefit the domestic market.</b><br><b><b>The mission</b></b><br>When it comes to those differences in culture and industry, Japan is far removed from the UK experience. But the latest Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) sponsored Expert Mission, in partnership with The Housing Forum, saw a group of delegates flown halfway across the world to discover what makes Japan&amp;’s highly customer-focussed housebuilders tick, and see what lessons could be learned.</p><p>The returning &amp;“missionaries&amp;”, from Gleeson Homes, Wates Homes, Crest Nicholson and Marley Building Materials among others, have brought with them tales of a housebuilding culture that not …