"WHERE THOU ART, THAT IS HOME." Emily Dickinson

We love our tiny, 700 square foot Japanese apartment.  Compared with American style houses, Japanese houses are a lot different.  Japanese houses are built for the climate.  It gets very humid in Japan, and mold and mildew grow quickly.  To solve it, Japanese houses have:

Bigger windows
Smaller rooms
Lots of windows
Tatami mats

One of the first things you notice upon entering a Japanese home is the 'genkan.'  The Genkan is the place you take off your shoes when you enter a house.  It is a Japanese custom and when entering any home taking off your shoes is a MUST here in Japan.

Tatami mats are easily the most distinctive feature of Japanese houses.  Tatami has been used in Japan since the 8th century.  Tatami is woven from IGUSA, a tall grass that is an inexpensive and abundant by-product of Japan's annual rice harvest.  Farmers alternate igusa with their rice crops.

Unlike westerners who measure the size of a room in square feet, the Japanese measure the room by a number of tatami.  For example, a 9x12 room is 6 tatami and a 12x12 room is 8 tatami.

The Japanese tradition of removing one's shoes when entering the house stems from the use of tatami mats.  Japanese have  worn  wooden clogs, called GETA, since the 6th century, when the arrival of Buddhism put an end to the killing of animals for shoe leather.  Because of their design, mud, dirt and straw would frequently build up under the clogs and would be tracked into homes and on the tatami. To protect the tatami, only stockings or bare feet are now permitted to touch the tatami, and no house shoes or slippers are to be worn on the tatami.

In our tatami room we have "shoji" windows which are designed to subdue and diffuse the light that enters the room (similar to sheer curtains).  Shoji is made with a wooden frame covered with thin Japanese paper.  The shoji windows are one of the most favorite things I like about our apartment.

At the end of each day, almost too tired to take another step, we open the door to our cozy,cute,little apartment, and say, "There is no place like home."  
This is our home for now, this is all we need, and we love it!

"BE GRATEFUL FOR THE HOME YOU HAVE, KNOWING AT THIS MOMENT, ALL YOU HAVE IS ALL YOU NEED."  Sarah Ban Breathnach

Please come in and kindly remove your shoes.  Notice our umbrella hanger outside our door.  You never bring a wet umbrella inside your home or a store.  

It is very common to have name plates here in Japan

Genkan

Shoe Closet

Tatami Room

Shoji windows-my favorite