[bamboozled]

I have never seen any of this in Joetsu or surrounding areas (very close to Ishikawa). Maybe you've spent most of your time in Tokyo?

[freetime2]

It’s a fairly common sight in Joetsu, particularly for government buildings. This company shows a list of seismic retrofitting projects that it has done in Joetsu, for example:

https://www.sato-san.jp/works/list.php?cat_id=11

There are also subsidies and financing available in Niigata prefecture for seismic retrofitting wooden homes built before 1981:

https://www.pref.niigata.lg.jp/sec/jutaku/1356814927041.html

For sure though there are many homes in the area that have never been retrofitted.