Japan: Heating and Short Skirts

They have heated toilet seats here!

In Japan, there is very limited heating, and even less insulation, so it is pretty cold just about everywhere. In the house we’re living in the only areas of warmth are he heated floors in the dinning room kitchen area, and the heated toilet seat. All methods of heating here radiate from the bottom up.

 The Japanese have bathing down to an art. The bathtubs are heated from the walls and have insulated covers. The bathtubs are very deep, they probably hold about the same amount of water as bathtubs at home, but they keep you so much warmer.  You clean yourself completely before getting in the tub. The hot, clean water is just for enjoying yourself in. :) 

Giant moving crab on the wall of a cafeteria.

What’s considered slutty here is the opposite of back home. There is no point at which a skirt or pair of shorts is considered too short. By comparison, any amount of cleavage or visible shoulders is very inappropriate. Even though it is still winter, girls are wearing shorts. I saw many girls today wearing shorts so short you could see the crevice at the top of their thighs. School girl uniform skirts are way shorter then I would have imagined. They generally reach about mid- thigh whereas their socks don't even reach their knees. Even professional women wear skirts way above the knee. 

Ben’s only fashion faux pas he needs to be aware of is that you are not suppose to wear a black or a white tie, we’re not sure why yet, but now we know to be aware of it.  Men here are a lot more fashionable then home, but it really isn’t hard to beat Boulder.

There is a total cultural penetration of cuteness. Most advertising campaigns, geared towards girls, are either based around cuteness, cleanness, or youngness. Almost anything you can buy is found in a cuter form too. All cell phones are offered in black, white, and cute. Dishes, cleaning supplies, wallets and so much more come in very cute forms.


I feel like this will be the easiest place to not get homesick because the food is so good. For about 5 dollars a meal you can eat delicious food that is also nutritionally balanced. Everywhere you go smells delicious too! There are so many kinds of Japanese healthy fast food places, and even the convenience stores have really good food! My favorite dish was a smoked egg, in a soup, with noodles and  pork. It was served with a bowl on top of the eating bowl, when you lifted the bowl  smoke came out, it was really cool. The soup had a nice smokey flavor. I have never had a smoked egg before, I LOVED IT! The egg was soft boiled and then lightly marinated in a soy sauce blend, then it was apparently smoked. I highly recommend trying smoked egg if you can figure out how :).

Awesome signs found outside of one of the train stations.