Tour of a small Japanese home:
Sumiko, by the way, seemed somewhat miffed that I took these pictures without telling her first, so she could clean up a bit. Ah well. I hope she forgives me.
This is the front door of the house. The bush in front, is a blueberry bush. You can also see a few leaves of the kiwi vine, to the right. The space right past the front door is a "genkan," usual to Japanese houses. It's a place with a tile floor, to take your coat off, take your shoes off, etc, without bringing much dirt into the house. Here you would usually immediately put on a pair of slippers, which is what you would walk around the house in.
This is the main hallway -- immediately to the left is a small multi-purpose room, and immediately to the right is my room. Further past that to the left, is the kitchen, and then again to the right, a larger room. Straight ahead is the bathroom. Almost always the door is closed -- I must have left it open after taking a picture. Usually you know someone's in the bathroom if there's a pair of slippers in front of the door.
Note the temperature -- 34.4 degrees centigrade. About 94 degrees. This day didn't feel so bad. I was working out in the field and not minding it so much. The following day, though, was about the same temperature but 20% more humidity (mid 70's instead of mid 50%) and I had a harder time of it.
This area is the small room. It's used as a dining room sometimes, a small classroom, a place to put stuff, etc. It is the only room in the house that has an air conditioner, so on days when it's really hot, and we want to eat dinner in cooler air, we go here. Also, for groups of just three or four students, it works as a classroom. Items in this room include an old photocopy machine, a bunch of onions to be used as seed stock, a TV which was pulled out of storage when the small one in the kitchen stopped working, and a laundry hamper. On the white-board is the remnants of a math lesson. The white chair with a padded cushion is a favorite spot for one of the hens to perch, and lay eggs.
This is my room -- it's a 4 1/2 tatami room, roughly 9 feet by nine feet. And yes, I'm a slob. You see the usual array of knicknacks -- a kanji book, a mouse chord, my laptop chord, some laundry hanging up, boxes of clothes.
This is where I store my bed -- every night I pull it out and lay it down, and every morning I fold it in thirds and stuff it in here.
This is the light fixture in my room. It's pretty cool -- it has three settings. All the lights on, half of them on, or just a little nightlight in the center.
This is the larger of the two rooms in the house -- it serves as a classroom, and also the place where we usually have breakfast. The clearing between the floor and the ornate woodwork along the top of the picture, is about 5 feet 10 inches. Given that I'm 6 feet tall, a casual observer will occasionally hear a "thump" sound followed by me swearing.
Also, note all the writing on the tables! I'd like to make a separate collection of all the graffiti written down -- years and years of bored students marking their territories.
This is the kitchen, and also a dining room (if it's not too hot we usually have dinner here) and also the computer room. The stove is a simple two-burner gas stove. Further to the right is a tiny little oven and a microwave, and the fridge and freezer.
A basic bathroom sink, and also changing room. Off to the left is the shower. The white box to the left is their rice cooker. The only thing that separates this room from the kitchen is a curtain, and sometimes Kenji doesn't even use that.
This is where I hose the dirt and sweat off of myself daily. To the right is the tub, which isn't being used -- maybe it's more of a winter thing. On the right-hand wall (sorry you can't see it in the picture) is a switch for the water heater. For the most part it is only used for showers. Unlike most American houses, there really is no hot-water tank. Water is heated on demand, and the heater turned off when done.
The toilet actually doesn't flush. Instead, off to the left (you can barely see it) is a hose that you spray down the inside of the toilet when you're done. At the very bottom of the toilet bowl is a little trap door, to keep the fumes from escaping -- I think the septic tank is directly below the toilet. Also note the slippers -- you put these on as soon as you enter, and leave them there when you're done. This is a really common feature of Japanese homes. Also there's an interesting array of books to choose from, so I usually do a bit of homework while here.
And that's it! That's the whole place. Actually Kenji and Sumiko sleep in a separate house across the street, so after they retire for the evining, this whole place is mine.