There is no place like home

Today I want to have a look at my Japanese apartment.

Here I took a video for you.



So as you can see it is pretty small. Not bigger than a dorm room. However, it is nicer than one. As you can see the first thing that you do upon entering an abode is to shuck off those shoes and don on some uwabaki, or indoor shoes. I actually had a note when I first moved in instructing me to removed my shoes. So to the left is shoes storage and to the right is the pantry.

 


Moving forward we have the bathroom on the right just beyond the entrance. The bathroom consists of a toilet and sink combination. If you can see on the toilet handle there are two symbols. Big and small. I will leave it to your imagination on what that refers to. Based upon the design, I am under the impression that Japanese people do not often use soap after using the toilet. I have noticed this in my schools as well, where there is no soap at the bathroom faucets; however there are other faucets located through out the school to wash and drink water that do have soap but they are not in conjunction with the bathroom.

To the left of the bathroom is my washing machine and shower room. I am thrilled to have a bathtub this time, some of you may have noticed its absence in my Korean apartment. Though the Japanese mostly use bathtubs for soaking, it is seem more as a healthy aspect of living, rather than the luxury that western culture considers it to be.

To the main room! This is where all my TV watching, sleeping, cooking, and eating is done. Immediately upon entrance you can see the gigantic windows that provide all of my daytime light. The curtains for which was provided by the Leopalace company. In front of my window I have what is currently my bed. I keep saying that when the weather cools, I will move my futon to the loft, as it is significantly warmer up there. The bed frame, table, tv stand and tv were all provided for me. My TV is currently at the foot of my bed since the cord is not long enough to reach anywhere else convenient in the room. Admittedly, I don't watch too much TV. I only turn it on for the odd soccer game. The table there is where I eat and do more or less everything that needs a table. I bought the floor cushions, or zabuton myself. Also a bit about my futon. I like a soft bed so I bought a nice 5cm or so thick futon and a 5 cm thick mattress pad as well. In total this was still under 100usd thanks to Muji and Konan.

Here is my kitchen. I bought these shelving units myself as there is absolutely no room for food preparation. Also the stovetop is IH and since I have decided that I don't like IH burners. Under the sink is my trash bins and plastic bags. The fridge and microwave were also provided, but I bought the oven myself. The rice cooker was a gift.

And in the last corner of my room is a closet.

Here is a view of my loft. There is also a curtained window here, which also opens. The stairs leading up here move outward and inward to provide a less steep incline and to be out of the way of apartment traffic.

These are a few photos from around the complex.