Inside a Japanese Home
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Many Japanese houses and apartments are made from wood. There are lots of earthquakes in Japan so these houses are better suited to the environment. |
People wear slippers rather than shoes when they are indoors. They take off their shoes in the genkan (hall) and store them in the hall cupboard. |
It is made of rice straw. In modern houses you see tatami rooms but you also see rooms with carpets. |
This is a kotatsu. It is a table with a heater under it. If you are cold you can plug it in and put your legs under the quilt. |
Japanese people wash themselves before they get into the bath. They sit on a little stool and pour water over themselves with a little basin. They wash themselves with soap and shampoo before they get into the bath. Then they fill the bath with water but do not use any soap. It is kept clean because other people in the house will be using it. |
Japanese people also like to visit the local onsen, hot springs.
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Japan sits on a fault line so there are thousands of onsen in the country. The water is heated naturally by the volcanoes. Onsen were traditionally used as public baths. The water in the onsen is supposed to be very good for you because there are lots of minerals in the water.
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The toilet (toire) is never in the same room as the bath. There is a sink on top of the toilet. When you flush the toilet the water runs through the tap. You wash your hands and then the same water is used to flush the toilet. |
Old-style houses
Here are some photographs of what the houses looked like long ago.