When you step into a Japanese home, you take off your shoes.  All the shoes are lined up in the formal entry way called the 'genkan.'  There are usually shelves or closets for your shoes.

Then you walk into the living room.  This is probably the largest room in the house.  It may be two rooms combined, yet divided by a shoji (paper) screen doorway.   There are usually tatami mats on the floor, which are mats of woven straw.  There is a closet at the end of the room for futons to be stored.  Futons are beds that can be rolled up and they are put away every day after they are slept on. 

The kitchen is very small, often without an oven.  Other than no oven, they pretty much have everything else, but on a smaller scale. 

The bedrooms are small with a closet for your futon.  There isn't much room for large furniture.

There is usually a bathroom on the first floor with just a toilet.  Before clean water goes into the tank, it stays on top of the toilet, where you wash your hands instead of the sink.  Talk about recycling.

Then on the second floor the bathroom may be larger with a tub called a 'uforo.'  This is a jacuzzi tub and everyone climbs in for a soak, usually the dad first.  Everyone goes in clean and then uses the same water, ugh.

The yards are tiny in Japan and most people have a carport and no garage.  Parking is very difficult in Japan, so you are lucky if you get a house with parking, especially difficult if you want two cars.  Pretty funny that usually men who work construction have vans.  No families use them like in the United States.

The houses are not insulated very well and are very cold in winter.  Most homes are heated with kerosene and that's why in winter families will sleep in the living room as they only heat that room.  You also had to worry if the movers could get up the street with their big truck.  Some streets are so narrow, you had to worry if your car could fit down.

As it turned out, we got to live on base, so all our looking for a home that would hold our stuff wasn't necessary.  But I sure learned how lucky I was to turn on the heat!