Why are tradition Japanese houses a good defence against hurricanes?

When I say tradition, I mean the extremely light weight walls and heavy roofs. :)Why are tradition Japanese houses a good defence against hurricanes?
I think the view these days - despite the general folklore - is that they're not.





See Response of Traditional Wooden Japanese Construction'; (Stephen Tobriner, Professor of Architecture, University of California, Berkeley) which reports the view of Heinrich Engel, an authority on Japanese building constuction, that ';Japanese residential construction is as delicate as it seems and not adapted to either typhoons or earthquakes';.Why are tradition Japanese houses a good defence against hurricanes?
Don't know. And I can't understand why the Americans still build houses from wood in Tornado alley. or why they still build out of wood period, when there is so much global warming associated with cutting down trees.
Probably because the roof will just float away with the wind, and the papery walls don't hurt that much if they hit you.
They are not they still get damaged in hurricane conditions.


Just its easier to repair them.
they are designed to be flexible and keep a good center of gravity