Shima Apartment

The view outside my balcony. I live in the last room, and behind us is forest and train tracks. Lots of space!

So many people are curious about my living conditions. The typical thought is that Japanese houses are so small and that we live on top of each other. That might be true in the bigger cities, but I'm out in the country! Lots of space and elbow room! Let me show you around my new apartment.

How my room started. 
Too-short curtains, my futon and the
box my futon came in as a little table.

I guess it is good that I choose the Big Bang Roommate Agreement as my template, but I didn't think I'd need it this soon! The 3 girl roommate situation that we were so scared about earlier has been lessened to just Jennifer and I rooming together. We have to share an apartment, but we have separate rooms, so no worries there. Jennifer has the western room and I have the traditional Japanese style. When we first moved in, I gravitated to the tatami (woven straw) mats in the Japanese room which, to Jennifer's dismay, made the whole apartment smell of straw. I loved it! It reminded me of the smell of dojo in the summer time, but the smell has all but gone away now that the mats aren't as fresh. The rooms are both the same size (six tatami mats in area), but as the Japanese styled one, mine has sliding doors for the closet and entrance, Japanese style closets (no hanger bar, just large shelves) and the actual tatami mats, while hers has western style doors, a small western closet, and wood floors. 


Jennifer was planning on getting a bed from the beginning, so the wood floors are better for her, but since I like the futon, I stuck with the tatami, which wouldn't be such a pain to sleep on. She has since been kind enough to give me her futon mattress  so I am extra comfy and can store them in my closet during the day for added space or turn them into a sofa. Like so:

Keep in mind that the Japanese futon is not the same as an American one. For one, they don't say "FUH-ton" like we do, but "fuTON". Second, most Americans think of a metal frame with a fluffy mattress that college students use as a futon. But In Japan, it is just the mattress and puffy blanket. The mattress and blanket are used at night, beat outside on the railing in the morning and left a bit to air, then put into the closet or folded in a corner during the day. Pretty economic space-wise. 

I recently bought covers for my mattress and blanket, too, so now I'm all set! I still use a cotton pillow, in case you are wondering. Some people here (especially at traditional style hotels) prefer the corn/seed/millet, but my futon set came with a cotton one, so that is what I'm sticking with for now.

Kitchen fun! The other appliances are just out of shot, but
look! A home phone! Remember those?

What we do share is a shower/bath room, but that is disjoined from the toilet and both are disjoined from the sink. So I could be taking a bath, she could be brushing her teeth, and her boyfriend (for example) could be using the toilet all at the same time. A rather nifty set up. "So after you use the toilet  you have to go somewhere else to use the sink?" you may be thinking. Not true! On the back of the toilet is a small sink. This is actually the freshwater coming into fill the bowl and the tank, but it is used to wash your hands. Weird? Maybe a little bit, but we are trying to save space and water. 

Storm doors. I love these. They fit across the
entire door/window and slide into this holding
area when you don't need them. Very good for
typhoon season!

We have a small common room where the cable box is set up, but which is completely empty otherwise. In the closets there we keep the recycling organized, mutual school supplies, and our empty suitcases and boxes. Our kitchen is also shared, and is composed of a small desk, one office chair, a sink, one electric burner (that is right, folks, just one!), a microwave, a toaster oven (no real oven, though), and a mini fridge that barely comes up to my waste. I do more cooking than she does, so I have two shelves and part of the door, and Jennifer has one shelf and dominance of the door. We have NO room in that little fridge so we have to shop almost three times a week. I try to buy something that I can use that day if possible. But the ice box is big enough for my ice cream treats, so I am please about that :)

My room has gone through a few stages, but i finally feel happy with it all now. I have room for storage, things are still neat and orderly, and I'm trying to limit how much I have. Traveling abroad has taught me to live light and only carry what I need. I'm trying not to accumulate junk, trinkets, and unnecessary papers now so that I don't have to throw them out later. We'll see how that goal works out. So far, this is my set-up!

Thanks for stopping by my room! I hope that you enjoyed your tour. Come back soon, y'all!