There's definitely more space out here. Houses are actually allowed to be houses without stacking on top of each other. There's still little room between houses but most of them have gardens so there's more of a Japanese-y feel. The houses also have roofs too so there's that gorgeous Japanese tiling you've seen before.
But overall, most houses are fairly 'modern'. They are recently built so utilize concrete or timber. There's few houses with paper exteriors anymore. Paper houses weren't designed for longevity perhaps anticipating natural disasters or fires which often wiped out entire cities, ironically due to the entire city being built out of ...paper houses.
Inside there are the tatami mats: woven bamboo blocks set into the flooring 90*80*5cm with a slight spring and insulative.
There are the Shouji: The sliding rice paper doors and windows which you've seen before
There are the futon's that we sleep on - bedding which is thin enough to fold into thirds to put away during the day. But also western bedding creeping into popularity and into my guestroom.
There's the ofuroba (bath room): Which is basically completely waterproofed room with room to sit on a stool and scrub yourself. The big bath next to it full of hot steaming water to pour and wash the soap off. Once cleaned to jump into as well to relax and unwind the stresses of the day.
There's the futuristic toilet with heated seat (best.invention.evar) and shower capabilities.
Sliding walls
I visited Masako's Grandma & Grandpa's house which had more 'traditional' feeling and age.
Grandpa took us upstairs into the 'attic' area to show us some collections of really old art and woven utensils he collects.
He also explained how the four core corner posts of the house were collected at four different parts of a mountain hundreds of years ago.
While the house is old, it didn't feel that old. They change tatami mats every 3 to 5 years so it keeps the flooring fresh. Sliding doors get changed when they wear too so things don't seem as old.
So overall? Yeah, I'd say it's traditional. But it's not 'old', its actually just brilliant inventions that have carried over to modern house designs. Even city shoebox apartments still have tatami's, shouji and the bath set up too.
Of all of the things - the bath setup is my favourite. There's something incredibly calming about having the time to clean without the urgency of a showers water washing over you. Not to mention the 5-10 minute relaxation in a hot bath every day.
