Saitama

Saitama is the town where my brother lives. They live in a mansion, but here that means apartment building. Their apartment is designed diferently than those in Canada. Some floors in the living quarters are wood and some are made of tatami mats. I love the smell of these floors, they are straw mats. Their bathroom is split into two rooms, one with only a toilet (a sink is located above the toilet, see the picture). The second bathroom has a washing machine and a sink, and behind a glass door lies a stand up shower and a small bathtub. You are supposed to take a shower and then bathe, the water from the bath is cycled to the washing machine in order to save water! The landloard for this mansion lived in a house behind the mansion, their house is depicted below. The landloard had a great water feature in his backyard that provided a soothing sound to fall asleep to. The balconies in Japan have long poles to hang your wash out to dry and to air futons. By the way, sleeping on a floor on a futon is much more comfortable than it appears, except when there is an earthquake like 2 days ago. I awoke to the floor shaking, which is something considering all buildings are made of cement and concrete due to frequent earthquakes! I am really thankful for the great hospitality I received from my family, and definitly would like to return. There is still so much to see and experience.