The Grand Tour: My Tiny Apartment

It’s been three weeks since I moved into my apartment, and it’s quite nice. While it’s only about 7 tatami mats in size, it’s laid out fairly well and I’m able to have a spacious-feeling area.

My Tiny Apartment from the Interior Doorway - my futon is on the floor in the right corner, folded up. It's a nice, sunny day!

I can’t measure it directly, but I estimate the main living space is about 10 feet by 10 feet square. In what is about the size of a small American bedroom, I have my closet, my TV, a shelving unit, and my futon. There’s also a small desk-table and folding chair, a cabinet which holds my linens and also serves as a table and space for my rice cooker, and a rack for hanging clothes. During the day, I can fold the covers and futon up to open up the floor to make it easier to walk around. It makes the whole place seem much bigger.

My Tiny Apartment looking at the Interior Doorway from the window. The bag and box on top of the white shelving is all trash to be taken out, with my trash bin near the middle of the photo next to the stacked suitacses.

Near the entrance is the kitchen and bathroom. The bathroom is really two parts: the shower/tub/sink enclosure and a separate “room” for the toilet. This means that the toilet doesn’t get wet during shower time and any unpleasantness the toilet brings stays in its own (ventilated) space. Outside the toilet is the washing machine (no dryer) – it’s a fairly good machine as it seems to clean my clothes well, but I certainly miss having a dryer.

Looking from the interior doorway to the entry door. The bathroom is on the left, and there's a hint of kitchen on the right.

When I get paid in a couple weeks, the first thing I plan to purchase is a decent chair. After rearranging a little bit (with only a couple pieces of furniture in the place, it isn’t a big chore) I found a better arrangement which leaves a good place to put a chair with a footrest. I’m thinking that eventually I should get myself a foot massager to use as a foot rest! My feet are quite tired and sore by the end of the day.

My tiny closet, full of clothes. There are plenty of blankets on the top shelf, and my vacuum is hiding on the lower left.

There isn’t room for anything else as far as furniture goes. It might be nice to have a real bed (instead of sleeping on the floor) and I could fit it in, but I’m sleeping well enough now that I don’t find it to be a necessity. While I can’t sit on the floor for long periods of time and sitting in my little folding chair gets uncomfortable fast (thus making a good chair a necessity), my sleeping abilities aren’t suffering due to using a futon so I’ll just stay as I am.

The kitchen! Not much counter space and only one burner. There are pots in storage under the burner, and the cabinet over the sink can hold food.

The fridge is fairly large and the microwave also works as a toaster oven. I haven’t done any real cooking yet, but I plan on making tacos tomorrow night - I bought everything on the way home tonight. I can get a pretty good fresh meal for under 500 yen at several restaurants and convenience store food is even less expensive, so there is little incentive to cook.

The shower unit bath. No curtain - I shut the door to keep the water in.

I have only one small problem with the apartment. Due to its size, humidity from my daily shower (even with the ventilation fan going) and laundry causes condensation to collect on my window. I am worried about mold or mildew growing on things, so I have to be sure to air out my apartment as often as possible. The same goes for my futon, and I do my best to be sure it’s in a position that any moisture from the night before (from normal sweating) has a chance to dry.

The private toilet which plugs into the wall. It's heated, and when you flush, water comes out of the faucet at the top to rinse your hands.

As for the size, I don’t need a large place. The storage tower I have is big enough that it should be able to hold all the souvenirs I collect over the next year or more, and I have enough furniture to be happy when I come home. I don’t plan on spending much time in my apartment, and even on those days when I do, there isn’t much I can add to it to make it more pleasant. I do need a set of instruments for my Xbox, though! Maybe next month…

Last, the first view you have of my apartment - bathroom and washing machine on the right, with the kitchen to the left. The box against the kitchen cabinets is my short table, which I just put behind the trash bin. The big grey blob in the middle is gone (the old futon).

So that's my apartment! I hope you enjoyed the grand tour!