This is the place I currently call home. It's tucked in behind another house and has a long driveway that my host father uses to store stuff he's collected from his business as a carpenter. He built the entire house himself and has gradually added on to it over the years. It's a unique house, not especially Japanese but not especially western either. I think it can be best described as "utilitarian." At some point, my host father installed solar panels on the roof which he says generate more than enough electricity to power the whole house. There isn't really a yard to speak of, but I don't really mind. You could say it's nestled in to the surrounding neighborhood.
It's subtle, but having a real house to call home in this foreign land makes me feel just a bit more comfortable as I explore Japan. I feel like I'm not just a tourist. I'm someone who wants the real Japanese experience and is taking steps towards achieving that.
Here is a link to my house on google maps. It's the one with the solar panels. You can see from the picture that it's tucked in behind another house and the long driveway makes it possible to access the street. I can't imagine such an arrangement working out in an American suburb, but it's the norm over here.
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