Fil You In

After two weeks in Momozono dormitory, I finally feel comfortable enough to thoroughly describe the amenities and overall living experience here. I have to say, it’s really not bad – I guess I had some preconceived notions of a typical Japanese living space and how undeniably challenging it would be for an American who comes from the land of “bigger is better.” In the end, the space is not as small as I expected and for someone who spends most of his time in the office or exploring on the weekends, it has more than enough room for a 3-month stay. However, I really didn’t bring that much stuff (about 2 suitcases) – adding any extra furniture or household items, I think, would be troublesome for the average person.

This post contains lots of pictures so you can get a good idea of the living space. I tried my best to capture different angles but as you can imagine I don’t exactly have a lot of room for long-range shots! Real estate agents around here must have a tough time.

Overview

The dorm is not very scenic from the outside – it’s your standard neutral-toned apartment building with some parking space and a bike rack (and even a moped/Vespa section – neat!). The buildings here all have a retro, rectangular style, and as you could guess – most things are just smaller: the cars, the parking spaces, the streets, and the buildings. The most interesting thing about the dorm is a small shrine near the front of the building, sitting comfortably right next the trash area (yikes!). There’s a total of four entrances that can be used, and the best part is I can easily swipe in with the exact same ID badge I use to get into any of the Brother office buildings. It’s all very efficient. The card reader works right through my wallet or bag, too — so I don’t even have to take it out to get in. Super easy!

The location is incredibly convenient, featuring a lot of key areas just a few minutes’ walk away: a supermarket, some noodle shops, the train, the subway, an internet (manga) café, a 7/11, a Lawson (the other major convenience store here), and of course – the Brother offices. It really has everything you need.

Entrance & Kitchen

I live on the second floor, and there’s three locks to make me feel very secure. Here, I have to turn my key the opposite way in order to lock/unlock the door, so that takes a little while to get used to. There’s a doorbell to be used (theoretically) by all the people I won’t be entertaining – since my space is way too little for that – and I don’t think I could pull off an Ina Garten dinner party with one burner and a microwave.

The entrance way spills right into the kitchen, with a little shoe closet to your left so as to not trek in the filth from the outside. The room even comes with a cute little pair of slippers which I make sure not to touch (my guess is they might  have been used by my predecessor and although I’m sure he is a nice person, I have certain limits). There’s a contraption on the front door that still remains a mystery to me, so please don’t ask me what it’s for. I have made a mental note to ask one of my co-workers when I finally give up on figuring it out.

The kitchen itself is decent – it contains the basics to live: a fridge, freezer, microwave, kettle, sink, burner, dish soap, a sponge, and naturally – a rice cooker. It even includes some kitchen wares: a pot, a pan, a dinner tray, cutting board, knife, fork, two spoons, spatula, ladle, chopsticks, and some bowls. Everything is tiny of course, but for the most part – it works. The sink is really tough to maneuver but for a few dishes, it’s certainly manageable.

Bathroom…s

The bathroom is separated in the typical non-western set-up, with the toilet room being separate from the main washroom. To my surprise, the toilet does not feature a bidet (though the office toilets do), but it does include a sink on top of the basin that magically comes to life when you flush –  you know, as a gentle reminder to wash those hands!

The washroom contains a decent sized area for morning readiness procedures, and even comes with a hair dryer. The shelves are small but the cabinet has plenty of space to hold my items. The washing machine is a real treat – super convenient. Although the instructions are 90% in Japanese, they were nice enough to translate the “Start/Stop” button. The rest was figured out quite painfully but I am now proud to say that I can successfully operate the “Standard” cycle. Don’t ask me to do anything else.

There’s no dryer available, but sometimes you just can’t have it all. I hang my clothes outside on the balcony – like the good ol’ days! It works well enough provided you wash in small batches.

I’m not sure how to describe the shower, because it’s really quite strange. There’s a tiny tub right next to the stand-up/sit-down (?) apparatus, all in one room with a joined drainage system. They even included a crotch-height mirror that naturally gets completely fogged up while the shower is in use, but it was a nice thought. There’s plenty of room for me inside, but at 5’10” I stand about 2 inches from the ceiling, so anyone taller than me would be in trouble – you’d probably have to sit. Or squat.

Living Room

The living room has plenty of space but again – I have no furniture. I can’t imagine fitting anything bigger than a twin-sized bedroom set here. I’d be curious to see what the layout of some of my colleagues’ rooms are. Maybe one day soon they’ll deem me safe enough to invite me over. Let’s hope!

The bed is a Japanese futon-style structure, very low to the ground, with a mattress pad and some basic sheets available. It took me a few days to get used to it, but that’s likely because I’m spoiled from my Casper back home. Boy, do I miss my Casper.

There’s a tiny desk available that I never sit at, but it’s nice to put stuff on. The room comes with some other staples: a vacuum, an iron/ironing board, and plenty of closet space, which is fantastic. I actually have more than enough room for my stuff, and they were even generous enough to include 8 whole hangers. Amazing! I hung up some pictures to make it feel more like home.

The air conditioner works great and has been my best friend over the last two weeks, where the days have been close to 100 degrees and the nights a static 90. The floors are wooden but cushioned, so it feels soft and kind of squishy as I walk across. I assume this is to dampen the noise of my loud American foosteps, so as to not disturb the neighbors.

An Actual Nightmare: The Trash Instructions

You know that feeling when you get to the end of a video game and have to face the final boss? That’s what I felt like when I found the trash instructions. I don’t even know where to begin in describing this. It is 4 laminated pages filled with text, diagrams, flowcharts, and imagery. The first time I looked at it I actually gasped and almost fainted. It took me 10 days to put out my first bag of trash because I was just so overwhelmed and afraid of committing some kind of felony that would get me deported. Every night I would pick it up and put it back down again, completely exasperated and defeated. The whole thing is in English, but it doesn’t help. There are three different color-coded bags to sort your trash in – but that’s not enough. Within each color itself, you have to sort too. So your plastic bottles and plastic containers and metal items go in the blue bag, but they all have to be in separate blue bags. I’m only allowed to put out the trash between 7AM – 8AM, and each day of the week is designated for a certain type of bag. With only two trash cans in this dorm, I don’t even know how you could feasibly achieve the proper sorting method without turning the kitchen into a landfill.

When I finally decided to grow up and throw out my trash, I notice that everyone else in the building breaks all the rules – so I feel a little relief. I’ll just have to make sure to go out when no one’s looking so I don’t get caught adding to the chaos. According to the instructions, I’m even supposed to label my trash bags with my name and room number, presumably so I’m held accountable for my trashy sins. Now, I feel that I’ve been a pretty respectful, rule-abiding foreigner so far – but just between you and me, that’s one rule I’m going to have to break.

Until next time,

Fil

P.S. I hope this post didn’t sound too harsh – mostly it was just for fun. Really, this dorm is a great space for the parameters of my stay and I’m really quite comfortable here, overall.

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Phrase of the Day:

わかりません! (Wakarimasen!)

Translation: I don’t understand!