Japanese Traditional Houses

I am sure for just about everyone when someone mentions Japan. Or maybe Japanese houses or that they live in Japan, someone is already picturing something in their minds.
That something might be sleeping on the floor in one of their infamous futons, or perhaps it is the screen paper doors that line windows and door frames. Or maybe it is just that they are small in general in comparison to houses in most other countries. Maybe it is always having a bath at the ready. The tatami floors. Or those fancy toilets? Wood floors? Lower ceilings? Smaller door frames? The little step at the entry way of every building where shoes do not cross?

Well in my experience, just about all of the above are true. And then some.
I have had several chances now to stay at other people homes. As weird as that is to say. Lovely citizens who really adhere to every stereotyped tradition. I even ate sushi and green tea with them the first time I met them. But it is not just that lovely old pair, but other as well. Being me sometimes gets you invited into households which are then left defenseless for my inspections.

First of all, when I stay the night, there is no guest bedroom to go to. There is no space for that sort of nonsense in Japanese houses. Well there is a spare room normally of sorts. Perhaps it was the room of a child who has since moved out or just a storage room or exercise or well, who really knows. But it is transformed into a guest bedroom of sorts during my stay there. Futons are rolled out and pillows are fluffed and everything is all neat and orderly. On the floor. This is not out of the ordinary in the slightest. Especially if the room is comprised of tatami mats. The reason for that is that any western bed would greatly damage the tatami mats, which you would want to preserve as long as possible (also they take up a lot of space which is a prized possession in the bitty little houses they have here). Tatami mats are the threaded bamboo flooring that are woven together. I have been told that they are warmer than the wood flooring for feets in the winter and that they are cooler as well in the summer. I have yet to prove the later. But I can attest to the former with my new apartment (trust me I promise I will update on that...soon...). Anyways perhaps Japanese people just never had a fear of snakes ever just slithering up into their bed, or maybe we just have too many where I am from, enough for me to have that fear when I was younger (now). I would guess that they actually do have a lot less here. I have never seen one at least.

Futons are usually just a 5-10 centimeter padding. I wouldn't exactly call it a mattress but it reminds me of the tri-fold foam pads you can buy for your beds (like when you go to college and realize that the 'bed' the offer is slightly better than a rock). But better than any of those mattress pads/ foam mattresses. On top is another futon, but this is where it gets confusing. They are both called futons. One is called a shiki futon and one is called a kake futon. The shiki futon is the one you sleep on top of; so the mattress-like one. And the kake futon is what we, in western culture call a comforter.

And those crazy paper doors?
Just like the paper windows you see above. Sometimes I feel like I can't be the only one who has stared at one in wonder of how they just don't fall apart. I actually even watched a...type of game show? documentary? how would I classify that? Well what happened was that they developed this new type of paper for the doors and then they went all out of their way with ridiculousness to show the audience how awesome it was. Some of the things they did were shoot 95 km/h baseballs at it. They had a few lions try to scratch it up. They drenched it in water. They had a big black boxer named Bobby (a regular comedian on Japanese telly) punch the crap out of it until he hurt his hand...but he did succeed. But Bobby was the only one. Nothing else worked. Sure the baseball dented it, but it didn't rip or break. And for the record, all of these activities would normally break this type of paper screen. So what happens when it does break? The simply patch it. There are actually a bunch of repair guides out there for this sort of situation. They will often patch it with origami paper as well. I mean if you are going to patch it and everyone will be able to tell anyways, just go all out and make it fabulous. Pretty much the advice they take on it at least. Probably once a year they will replace the paper too. First they soak the doors or windows that need replacing because of their heavy damages to get off all the old paper. Then they place a glue on the door frame and its lines. And then finally the paper on top of that. Then I am told they get it wet a bit to make the glue less visible and blend it, but also to stretch the paper taut. Seems pretty time consuming considering the amount of doors and windows that need it. But it is a classic. A staple of Japan. And I suppose that once kids move out (if ever) it becomes a lots less tiring since they don't need replacing as often.
Another annoying type of door I have discovered recently is just the normal sliding paper doors, as seen below. Sure they look innocent enough...just don't get them wet. Don't even think of trying to just smudge that little smear on it off with a bit of water. All it takes is a bit. And your paper is forever disfigured, albeit minorly.

As for the restrooms...
They are exactly as you might expect. They since a little song and opens its mighty jaws lid when you enter the room. Lights. Camera! Action!!! Perhaps it is just the lights. The toilets lights up, its inside lights up, the room lights up it is like a runway show for your poop. Disinfectant is sprayed in a nice little mist and then you sit down upon your throne and a gurgling sound is made. No one likes to listen to themselves take a leak in Japan. You do your business and depart and it sings to you and closes the lid and flushes. If there is a sink attachment it would run at this point and you could wash your hands. Of course this is mostly in the homes and not the apartments. Or at least not my apartment.

And then in addition to their toilets which are such an upgrade from the squatty potties that the stations and most schools have to offer, they have their bath tubs. With these magical things you can fill them at a desired temperature at the press of a button. And if you forget? You can have it reheated at the press of another button. And to contain the heat, nearly every house will have some sort of plastic covering device so you can cover it for the next person. Yes the next person uses your bath water. Yup, weirds me out just a little too. But I suppose you have to think of it more like a hot tub without the jets. Also they don't put half as many smells into their bathtubs as I do. Ok more like non, because half would still be something. Which would make it a slight bit more sanitary for other people.

Japan home staples are certainly one of a kind. And they definitely do not disappoint.