We found a house!

Well, after looking at seven homes in a variety "cho's" (neighborhoods), we finally picked one and we are super excited! As many of you know we spent three years living in a one-room apartment in Hawaii with limited storage. I loved it, I'm not complaining... I was just ready for a house (with more than one room) and yard!  Chris and I quickly realized that houses in Japan are very different from what we are used to.  For example, we can't hang things on the wall.  They don't paint their walls, they cover their walls with a nice wall covering, therefore nails are not allowed (and Chris and I do love to hang our artwork).  Also, kitchens are not designed for dishwashers or ovens, so I will need to learn how to work a convection oven. However, we do have a small grill specifically designed for fish and we have a hatch door in our kitchen floor specially for keeping beverages cold.  

So, we decided on a two story house in Oghata Cho with four bedrooms and a nice size yard. Chris will be gone a lot, so the yard is my responsibility! I'm looking forward to learning how to mow a yard.  It also has a tatami mat room.  This is a room covered wall-to-wall with straw mats and doors with rice paper.  However our favorite perk of the house is the heated toilet.  Our winters get very cold, so the seats are actually heated! Also, we have plenty of room for guests and we love to have company!! Here's some pictures:

A view of our yard

Tatami mat room, this is downstairs next to our living room

Kitchen

You don't wear shoes in Japanese homes, so this is
our large shoe cabinet by the front door.

The heated toilet!  You thought I was kidding, didn't you? :)
The white buttons on the side let you adjust the temperature.

Master bedroom, we love the large window and access to the balcony.

Just one of the many closets, love it! I love to organize and store! I can't wait to get busy!