One of the really nice things for me in Kyoto is my house. They call it a
traditional Japanese house. There is a little sliding door for you to
enter. Its only about 4 feet high so you feel like a mouse going into a
mousehole. The wood door slides open on a wooden rail. When you enter the
house there is a little vestibule with a stone floor for you to take off
your shoes. All over the floor there are these little mats called tatami
mats that are made of woven straw. They have many layers so they are
quite
soft. They are bordered by wood frames. They are about 3 feet wide and
6
feet long. They cover the entire floor and are cut to fit. The rooms are
seperated by screens made of wooden slats that are divided up into little
compartments. In between the slats are different materials, plastic,
glass,
or paper. These screens are everywhere, between rooms and closets. They
slide roughly on there rails with an motion that is gratifying because it
feels as if they were home made and custom fit. The door to the bathroom
has a similar sliding lock that is just a wood slat sliding into a hole on
the other side. We have all of the conveniences, gas stove, electric
lights, washing machine, hot shower etc. To go upstairs you go up a very
steep staircase, maybe about 70 degrees. You have the feeling that you
are
going up a ladder. At work there is a similar staircase so it might be a
traditional thing here. There are 2 kinds of toilets in the house. The
throne , regular western style, and the squat toilet which is traditional
Japanese. My room is upstairs and I have ample room. There are of course
screens everywhere and I sleep on a futon on the floor. If it is warm I
can
open the screens and get a cross breeze because I have windows on 2 sides
of
my room. The windows have screens for bugs as well. In the morning the
squaking cranes herald the new day. Time to get up.
go to Frank`s home page