Space - Mar. 14 2007

This ties in with yesterday's blog: Japan has little livable space and a large population. With the size close to the state of California containing almost half the population of the United States, there has to be a way to maximize space and resources. Japanese have become very clever at this and their low-fuel compact cars is just an example.
Water is recycled often from bathwater to clean clothing. Most Japanese don't use dryers they hang their clothes outside. Washing machines are no bigger than a large microwave and is usually installed over the counter. Sometimes in restaurants there is a room for toilettes and a shared room with the sink and mirror for men and women.

Sometimes the obvious lack of space can be shocking and uncomfortable to us (see pictures) and sizes in anything tend to be smaller, to accommodate for scare storage space. But please don't feel like it is purposely done to fool the buyer. Everything is generally smaller here and, unfortunately, more expensive. Part of it has to do with the value of land but pricing in Japan is a complex subject and I might do a special post on that subject.