As promised, here are some details about where we are living in Tokyo. We are now living about 30 minutes from the centre of Tokyo (on the semi express train). The area is called
Higashimurayama and our local station is called Kumegawa. It's a great area to live in. There are lots of shops, supermarkets, restaurants, bars, parks, and other open spaces.
City living is still a bit of a shock to the system after living in the middle of nowhere for nearly 4 years. It's great to be able to do such simple things as shopping at any time of day and to have so many different ways to spend my time. It's fantastic to be able to choose what I want to do. I do miss a lot of things about Shimogo though and I'm lucky to have had the chance to see the two sides of Japan.
Unfortunately, I haven't slept well since our move which I think is due to the background noise of the local area. In Shimogo you could hear a pin drop, but in Tokyo, there's always a car driving past or people walking nearby. I'm sure I'll get used to the noise soon. I remember I had the same problem when I first lived in Tokyo (about 11 years ago). I used to be woken up by the musical bin lorry outside my tiny apartment, but after a few months, it ceased to bother me.
A particular annoyance at the moment is the noise caused by the local elections which are going on all round Japan. Every candidate seems to drive in a circuit around the local area in vans weighed down by massive speakers. All the candidates seem to do is repeat their names over and over again. It must be difficult for them to tell people their manifesto as they are constantly on the move. The candidate who has driven past our house the most is called Ishibashi. I think I've heard his name repeated at least 100 times today. Annoying, so he will not get my vote (if I were allowed to vote).
I thought I would take this opportunity to share with you this drawing showing a banner erected by
General Douglas MacArthur's Japanese supporters in 1950. This banner was to display their support for him in a possible US presidential election race.
It is odd that our apartment in Tokyo is much bigger than our previous apartment in Shimogo. Tokyo is the one of the world's most densely populated cities where you would expect living areas to be small as space is scarce. Conversely, the Japanese countryside is in decline and there is an abundance of available space for housing. Therefore, I never really understood why most apartments I saw in the countryside were tiny. My theory is that apartment designs are fairly standard in Japan and are used both for rural and urban areas. It doesn't really make sense to use the same housing dimensions for both the countryside and city. If the Japanese nation want to preserve some sort of rural population, it would be common sense not to force people into living in rabbit hutches when there is no obvious need to do so. If the quality of life was better in the countryside, perhaps less people would want to leave. Here endith the lesson.
Here is a picture of our living room and our balcony. The living room is about the same size as our old apartment in Shimogo. It's nice to be able to sit on a sofa instead of the floor.
The balcony will be used for beer drinking during the summer. Clara loves her new room, even if it is a bit on the small side. She makes me knock on the door every time I want to enter. Yuki is really happy that she has a large kitchen to work in and is over the moon that our bath is double the size of the one we had in Shimogo. Our living conditions have certainly taken a turn for the better. Of course the natural environment is nothing compared to Shimogo, but the general balance of things does seem to be better.
We have basically finished organising the apartment. The last piece of the puzzle fell into place today when our telephone was finally installed. We have no plans for the weekend, but if we do anything interesting, I'll let you know.
I'll try and do another update soon, perhaps about our new space age toilet. Until then.
