Housing

This post will be quite a "hodge podge" of different homes or apartments that have interested me enough to take their picture!  Some for good reasons, some for not-so-good reasons! 

You be the judge.

On both of these homes below I am attempting to point out the proximity of the front door to the street.
I believe one can also appreciate the width of these homes!

This one below is more the typical Japanese style with pointed tile roof and a little bit of space for a garden area.  Nevertheless, this style is not found very often in the greater Tokyo area.

In this one, I'm pointing out the "narrowness" of both the home and the carport!

We watched the vacant lot across from the Church turn into a house overnight.  It was a pre-fab job, and the separate pieces were hoisted up and over the power lines by a truck with a very large boom.

Up and over she goes!

Coming down!

Almost there!

Just a few more pieces to go.

And who'd have ever thought this home was built as shown above?

These four homes are pictured here to show you how close homes can be to each other.  I'd guess that 18 inches to 2 feet is the closest I've seen.  And that is very, very common!

Here's another set of four homes very close together.

Six houses on what is not much longer than one of our driveways at home!

Since most homes have little or no yard,

some people take advantage of what little space they have to plant flowers, etc.

This is a picture from our 2nd floor landing overlooking the Watanabe home of a widow and her daughter in our ward.  Most Church members live in condos or apartments; very few own homes.  Note the second-story balcony for airing out futons and drying laundry.

Some modern style homes

Frankly, these next homes are very, very large for Japan.  Makes me want to know what the owners do for a living to have such a huge home when all the rest are so small!

In the mid 80's Japan passed a law that buildings could no longer be built with bricks due to the danger they pose during an earthquake.  Consequently, most homes and businesses are now finished off with what we would call "faux brick."  This apartment complex being torn down gives a pretty good idea of how that is applied.  It really does look nice, but I had no idea the faux brick was so thin.

Surprisingly enough, once in a while I stumble on a home with enough property to have a yard.  It's at times like these when I truly appreciate the Japanese green thumb I so lack!

 

And now for some shots of very interesting apartment buildings:

Buildings built on the diagonal junction of two streets just follow the same lines.  Some are so narrow at the apex that we wonder what on earth that space could be used for.

My favorite set of stairs leading to some apartments at the top!

More "weirdness"

 And weirdest of all...