Our House, In the Middle of the Street   2005-07-04

First impression: L-U-V it!


We're living in Higashi Kurume. It's a small city in Tokyo with a population of about 114,000 people. Tokyo (population: 12 million⁺) is counted as one of the 47 prefectures of Japan, but is called a metropolis rather than a prefecture (a prefecture is something like a province). Although Tokyo is considered one of the major cities of the world, it is technically not a city. There is no city named "Tokyo." The metropolis of Tokyo consists of 23 city wards, which make up about one third of the metropolis' area, 26 cities (of which Higashi Kurume is one), 5 towns, and 8 villages (including the Izu and Ogasawara Islands - several small Pacific Islands in the south of Japan's main island Honshu).







The nearly incomprehensible map of the metropolitan Tokyo area. Higashi Kurume is just off the upper left hand side.




The Higashi Kurume train station sign.


Higashi (meaning "east") Kurume is a quiet, residential city. It's a far cry from the hustle and bustle of Taipei; there are no street vendors, no night markets splashed up and down the side streets, and, thankfully, no scooters. Apart from the few apartment towers scattered around the train station, there are only narrow streets lined with two story, single dwelling houses, a few grocery stores, a department store, an international school housing the Christian Academy in Japan (where we'll be laying our devotional pillow), and the city hall building.

Our house used to be a stamp shop thirty or fourty years ago. I'm not sure of its history or metamorphasis from shop to residence, but I do know its been used by teachers teaching at Hoshino Girls High School (where we're teaching) for years and years and years. It's one of a number of small buildings (the others still being shops: a tobacconist, a hardware shop, a green grocer, a restaurant, and a few others I'm not sure of) on one of the main streets running through town.



Our house is on the far left with the brick facing on the second floor.


The main streets in Higashi Kurume are small in scale. They remind me a lot of the main streets that run through some of the small cities in England. They're narrow (narrow enough to make you wince and suck in your breath while you're riding a bike and a car squeezes past), two lanes wide, and wind out in not a great hurry from the train station.

A few blocks behind our house is a quiet little stream. While riding our bikes (Yes, our house came complete with bikes! Marlene gets to ride a Schwinn cruiser with front and rear baskets, and I get a full suspension mountain bike. Sweet! The thrill of going out for a bike ride in the cooling dusk air the other day was barely containable) along the path that shoulders the stream we've spied huge bright orange carp among the rushes and water grass that poke out from the bank. Fair game for sushi? My Taiwanese trained taste buds are always on the prowl. The path looks like the perfect place for the training runs we hope to get in this summer as we attempt to shed the results of our late night snacking binges in Taipei.

We're really enjoying our house. It feels so good to just have some space. It's not huge - maybe 800 square feet - but it feels like a palace compared to our room in Taipei. It has the feel of a Gulf Island cabin: it's cozy, big enough for two (now we can physically move to another room instead of just closing our eyes if we want some "alone time"), and filled with enough quirks to keep us guessing for a couple of years.



Our quirky toilet. It's too small to sit/squat and close the door.



The lower floor of our house: office, storage room, laundy, shower, toilet, and living room.



The upper floor of our house: kitchen, pantry, dining area, and bedroom.


If our first couple of weeks are any indication of what's to come, I think we're in for a great experience in Japan. For the first time in over a year I feel relaxed and happy. So relaxed and happy, I think I might just sign off, go upstairs and cook some dinner, and then settle in for today's stage of the Tour de France. Until next time!

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