About My Apartment

If you are Facebook friends with me, you can see pictures of my apartment and city in my “JET Programme” album, but I will describe them here too. My apartment is three stories and consists of two separate buildings in the shape of an “L.” Kris and the other new JET live in the other building, but it doesn't make a difference at all. The buildings are pretty much connected anyway. I am on the 3^rd floor which is good because that means there are less bugs (I've only seen one itty-bitty baby spider so far) and no one can see into my apartment from the streets. I think there are about 12 apartments of varying sizes in each building. Kris has the smallest (but his rent is cheaper), I have the middle sized one, and the other new JET has the biggest. However, we pay the same amount for rent which is weird. I think my apartment is a bit newer though. The apartment complex is a peach colored. There is an alcove built in to the building for storing bicycles…that’s where I keep mine. When you open my front door and step inside, you are in my entrance. All Japanese homes have an entrance. It's basically a place for you to take off your shoes because wearing shoes in a home is forbidden in Japan. The entrance is sunken an inch or two and is tiled with little grey stones. There is a shoe cabinet in my entrance made of dark wood. There is a light above the entry which had no fixture, only a bulb, so I bought a lantern to put over it.

When you step up out of the entryway, you are in the kitchen (all the walls are white in the apartment, by the way). The floor in the kitchen is this weird fake wood stuff that is really soft. I've never seen anything like it. I guess it’s practical for the kitchen though because if you drop something on the floor, it probably won’t break. Immediately to the left, there is a tiny bathroom. I’m happy I have a washlet though. A washlet is a fancy Japanese toilet that can do various things. Mine can spray your butt and front. You can adjust the pressure of the water, and there is an option that makes the water stream move back and forth. Also, my washlet has a fan that can air dry your bottom after spraying it. Best of all, there is a seat warmer! There is a little shelf above the toilet along with a light. The sink kind of hovers over the bath tub a little bit. The sink handles are also used for the shower. You can toggle between the sink and the shower by turning a knob. The water is very touchy. You can go from having ice cold water to very dangerous boiling water. Luckily, the shower-head is a hand held one so if the water starts getting too hot, you can take the shower head off the holder and spray it at the wall so you don’t get burned. It takes a while for the water to get back to a normal temperature once it starts getting too hot or too cold. Anyway, back to the kitchen. On the right is this cabinet/counter-top thing that my predecessor bought to provide more space for preparing meals and storing stuff. I store pretty much all the dishes, cups, Tupperware, etc. in it. On top I have the rice cooker, hot water machine, paper towels, and a container of cooking utensils. Also on the right, but tucked in to a little nook, I have my refrigerator, oven/microwave/grill (yes, it does all three), and a bucket with brooms and a mop in it. The left wall of this nook is actually a sliding door into the bedroom. All three rooms of my apartment have a large light on the ceiling with three settings: Bright, medium, and dim. The dim is very nice. The other settings use a fluorescent lightbulb while the dim is a small regular light bulb. On the left side of my kitchen, tucked into the wall, are my oven top (two gas burners and a little broiler which you have to turn on the gas to use), a very large sink, a little bit of counter space, cabinets above and below, and a fume hood above the stove.

Tiny bathroom.

Tiny Bathroom

Kitchen.

Kitchen

 Walking through the kitchen, you come to the living room. There are sliding doors, but I usually keep them open. There is a little step up into the living room. I have learned the hard way by stubbing my toe very badly. In my living room, to the left, there is a huge wardrobe chest with two drawers on the bottom. It’s kind of weird to have it in my living room, but I don't think it would fit nicely in the bedroom. Plus, my living room would look really empty if it wasn't in there. Also on the left, after the wardrobe, is the couch. It can fold down in to a bed, but it’s hard to sleep on because if you lay in the middle, it’s really uncomfortable. So, it’s pretty much pointless to fold it down. I slept on the couch for the first week until I got my bed. I tried the Japanese futon the first night and decided I liked the couch better. The couch is kind of weird. It’s black, but has this cream pad that you have to attach to it. To me it looks weird so I decided to put a brown fitted sheet over it, and I think it looks nicer. I have a blue throw blanket on it and a large pink seal-shaped pillow on it, lol! The floor in the living room is a light hardwood. It’s actually legit, unlike the kitchen. I bought a big rug to put at the foot of the couch to make the room more comfortable. It has a brown trim with tan and green polka dots. In the right far corner, I have a desk and chair with my computer, candle wax warmer, picture my boyfriend and I, and a plant on the desk. Above the desk is a cork-board with all sorts of stuff pinned to it. There is a black rimmed clock above my couch. There are sliding glass door out on to the veranda at the far end of the room. I have two sets of curtains over the doors. The curtains closer to the windows are white reflective ones and the one on the inside are cream with a floral pattern. Out on the veranda, I have a view of the mountains/hills and a lot of different buildings. There are bars with hangers and clips for pinning up my laundry. To the left is my washing machine. I bought a plant to put on my veranda because that’s what most people do in Japan, but it looks lonely right now. I will eventually buy some more. Also, my air-conditioning unit is on my veranda on the right side. I hung some straw curtains outside the bedroom windows to help keep it cooler inside and to block some light so it stays darker in the bedroom.

Washing machine on balcony.

View from the balcony.

Living room.

Off of the living room, on the right through sliding doors, is the bedroom. It is 6 tatami mats. Tatami is a traditional type of Japanese flooring made of woven straw. To the left are more sliding glass doors on to the veranda, but I have them blocked off by the bed because I see no use for them. There're two sets of curtains on the doors as well. The ones closer to the window are white UV blocking curtains, and the inside ones are orange…not my first choice of color, but they work. In the far left corner, close to the ceiling, is my air unit which also happens to be my heating unit in the winter. Along the sliding doors and under the air unit is my bed. It’s a single size bed (anything bigger would've cost a lot and taken up too much space in my opinion). I have a nice cream comforter with a brown and beige leaf pattern on it. Next to my bed is a small dresser with a book shelf on top. I keep books and other knickknacks on it like candles, Kleenex, decorations, etc. To the right of the dresser is a full-length mirror. The whole right wall of the bedroom is sliding doors. Two of which cover a large storage closet in which I keep stuff like my suitcases, vacuum cleaner, laundry stuff, futon (that I don’t use), blankets, and other things. The other door, as I mentioned before, goes into the kitchen. By the kitchen door, I have a small floor chair that is beneath an abstract picture I bought at the store. That basically sums it up.

Bedroom.

*I have done a lot of rearranging and have bought new things since I wrote this post. The apartment is set up  a lot different now, but it's fun to recall how I had everything organized when I first moved in.