Rabbit hutches in Japan compared to elsewhere..? 17 1 8 (7) 25 2 20

Yesterday my wife and I visited this lady R who for some years has lived alone, her 3 children all I believe married or in open marriages and one daughter, Mi quite close who together with her partner, Mo, have been helping R refurbish her small apartment of 15 years habitation. Two other guests were also present: Ei another retired lady who has recently moved house from a family-sized detached bungalow into another apartment block, a condominium in US parlance? Down-sizing in the process, and C a third single person but male who has also just retired and who I believe also lives alone. The common link between the members of this gathering is that we all belong to the local walking club, and with the exception of C are all off-comers but living some considerable time in the town though C who was born here has lived away for a good many years in between times, including some years spent abroad in Sweden.

Well we had not been gathered long before the subject of her refurbishment came up when she explained how she had thrown out all the old and replaced it by all new: not a typically Finnish thing to do but reminding me about the Japanese penchant for getting rid of old clutter, and also reminding me about the book I am reading of Robert E Christopher's "The Japanese Mind" published in 1983.

Now my own study-cum bedroom is a room, the second of two such rooms in our house measuring roughly 8,5 ft by 10 ft which compares to Japanese rooms in Christopher’s book of similar size for a well to do Japanese couple situated in the Tokyo conurbation whom he first met in New York but later met in a Tokyo Restaurant, and who unusually invited him back to their condominium or as they were quoted as saying in the book for him to see their “rabbit-hutch”. The term “rabbit-hutch” he qualified was an Americanism which certain Japanese people had taken into common usage to describe their homes: the couple’s house in total comprising an 8 x 15 ft windowless kitchen and eating space, a living room and smaller bedroom and bath which in total measured about 500 square feet, or 46,6 square metres. In this case the Japanese couple in question were rather proud of their “spacious” accommodation and it was also noted how as a Government employee the husband had only a commute of ½ an hour to go to his work place. Their whole situation therefore so much better than the average Japanese couple’s condominium which was described as either of 3DK or 2DK size: comprising 3 rooms of perhaps 9 x 12 ft or comprising only 2 rooms plus the kitchen with dining space, the “DK” meaning dining kitchen but no separate living space.

Well the book went on to say how the couple paid the equivalent of US$ 250000

for their apartment in 1980 which he said was of a similar price one would have to pay in Manhattan, only the one in New York would be twice the size.

It was interesting in our gathering to recount the times we each had visited Japan: my wife and I to attend our elder son’s wedding in Okinawa but with a shorter visit to Tokyo for my company when we also took the opportunity to meet some friends who took us to a rather upmarket restaurant during which I formed the view that Japanese houses are rather small and Ei related how she once visited her brother who was working in Tokyo for his Finnish company and how he took the lift in his apartment block to his car which was garaged in the basement thereby describing what in effect was rather salubrious accommodation.

To complete the background for this particular blog I went to Google and discovered that in other parts of mainland Japan the price of housing is very similar to the price of housing where we live and I recalled how when we bought this house in 1988 all 117 square metres of it, or 1260 square feet the price we paid was about the same as a business colleague who lived in Kenosha Wisconsin who had bought  his three storey detached house, 3 times the size of ours.  

So I cannot say I am really any closer getting inside the Japanese mind on this occasion but that writing it has helped me put the housing situation in at least 3 countries into some kind of perspective and noting that prices vary a great deal both depending on the country but also on whether one looks at prices in the countries capital or in the province..? Have a good day everyone as I hope you are as satisfied as I am with my rabbit hutch..!

Getting inside the Japanese mind set..? 17 1 8