Kako
and Anne |
Following
our first day of sightseeing we returned to Nat and Kako's home
for the evening. On the way we stopped with Kako at the local market
to purchase the needed items for dinner. Walking around these markets
was extremely interesting. You get a feel for what it's really like
to live in Japan, and you are literally struck by the expense of
everything. For example, a small bag of oranges, perhaps 3 pounds,
was approximately 10 US$. I have no idea what the average Japanese
salary is, but it had better be quite high to afford such prices.
Kako
(left with Anne) is a skilled craftsman in various art forms including
quilting. In the photo Kako is holding a handmade photo album she
presented to Anne as a gift and memento of our visit.
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One
of the primary reasons we scheduled our trip to end in Japan was to
allow us to meet with some good friends, Nat and Kako, whom we had
known for years. They lived not far from us for 15 years when Nat
was summoned back to Japan by his company. Since they left we have
kept in touch with them and also visited them one time when Nat was
temporarily assigned to England. We looked forward to not only seeing
and enjoying some of the sights of Japan, but the time we would have
with them in their home.
Nat and Kako are excellent hosts. Not only did they show us around,
but they invited us into their home and treated us as family not just
friends. Their home offered many surprises for both Anne and I that
I would like to share with you.
Japan is an island and relatively speaking it's quite small for the
population considering that much of the central area is mountainous.
Land is naturally at a premium and many of the roads seem small by
our standards in the US The houses are good size, but they are generally
located on small plots of land and very close to other houses that
surround them. Nat told me that the president of his company was picked
up by limo everyday, but that the street he lived on was to narrow
for the limo to negotiate requiring him to walk to the end of the
street to meet the limo each morning. |
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Nat
and Kako's house was good size and only three years old. It was
well appointed with all of the modern conveniences you would expect
to find in a new house, but to our surprise was not centrally heated.
The season where heat is required is relatively short and, as a
result, they do not install central heating. Each room had its own
space heater and there were other little amenities that made up
for the lack of heat.
The picture at right shows the modern Japanese toilet. It was really
an ingenious invention that I've never seen the likes of in the
United States. First and foremost the seat was heated and there
were numerous controls that could be activated by the touch pad
to the right of the seat. Another really good idea was the top basin
which allowed you to wash your hands as the tank was being filled
after flushing.
You're probably aware of the Japanese custom of taking your shoes
off when entering a person's home. We found out that it goes beyond
that. Entering the home you leave your shoes at the front door and
don a pair of house slippers. When you enter the bathroom or shower
another set of slippers are sitting just outside the door. You change
your house slippers for the bathroom or bath slippers before entering
the room and change back when leaving the room.
While
Nat, Kako and their three children enjoyed the luxuries of normal
beds it was our pleasure to sleep the traditional Japanese style
on tatami mats laid carefully on the floor. In the photo left Anne
can be seen standing in our bedroom next to the space heater that
was used to warm the room prior to going to bed. Because of safety
it was turned off when you went to bed.
In the photo below Anne can be seen snuggled up for a good night's
rest. The covers turned up at the bottom expose another nice Japanese
invention ... the foot warmer. Electrically heated the foot warmer
was a nice comfort during the chilly nights. Believe me, if your
feet are warm, then the rest of you is warm and comfy!
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An
ultra modern Japanese toilet
complete with lots of controls
Anne
standing in our room
by the space heater
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Snuggled
up for a good
night's rest with a
foot warmer |
The
kitchen was another interesting part of the house. Being relatively
compact every possible use of space is put to good use. Kako's dishwasher
doubled as storage for her plates and utensils. The floor contained
a trap door that when raised revealed storage areas and another the
freezer. I can remember the small confines of the kitchen in my first
house. We could definitely have used some of these techniques to maximize
on the limited space. |
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Kako
met us at the train station when we arrived in Osaka and guided us
on our tour of Kyoto. For our next adventure it would be Nat's turn
to take us to Nara and Osaka Castle. Join us on the next page for
pictures of Japan's ancient capital .... |
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