living in japan

The bathroom in our second apartment, in Yoshinocho. Everything you've heard about Japanese living standards is true btw, this apartment was about a 1/4 the size of a one bedroom place in Australia. The bathroom is more like a waterproof pod than a room and with no natural light or ventilation used to get nice and mouldy. Everything in the apartment is plastic - doors, walls, floor EVERYTHING - as normal (ie. not on materialicious) Japanese architecture is designed to have a very short lifespan of around 10 to 15 years.

The view from the Yoshinocho "kitchen". Of our two apartments in Japan, this one was BY FAR the best despite being by far the smallest as it had a. transparent windows and b. a private outdoor area (a balcony). It was also in downtown Yokohama so I could walk to work and there were a lot of restaurants and shops nearby. Also a 'soaplands', which was interesting, especially how I was constantly mistaken for a hooker and followed home by salarymen telling me to "get into my car". Um, ok. Why not!

The exterior of our first apartment in Fujisawa, featuring the beautiful archiectural details and sympathetic use of material that Japan is so famous for. That's our bedroom window which, like all windows in the apartment, has opaque textured glass so that you can't see outside. Not suffocating or depressing at all.

The loungeroom in Fujisawa. This room actually felt warm and fairly welcoming due to the tatami mat flooring. The big dark spot in the bottom left corner is where the boyfiend melted the floor when ironing clothes on it. He has done this in every single place we've ever lived in and is suprised each time.

I really wish I had taken more photos.