Japanese Showhomes
How many foreigners have gone to check out Japanese showhomes??? I don't think many-- I haven't heard any stories from people. So, today, Shige and I went to check out a showhome area in Shinjuku.
First, I have to say that Japanese showhomes are nothing like Canadian ones. At all. I have never seen anything like these homes before. All of them had very very very distinct and unique styles. Some were like mazes (to maximize space) and many had cool features that I never would have dreamed about in my entire life; such as building the house around an open patio- so that you can look up to see the sky, but no one can see you since it's 100% enclosed by your house. Neat.
The area had 12 showhomes, but we only got to see four.
You can see the enclosed patio in the back here. This was the coolest basements I've seen, speakers lined the walls!! The only downside is there was no shower, just a toilet(>.<)
Insane.
When we were viewing the Misawa House showhome, they tricked us into going to the main company office for a tour. They said it would be like 2 hours, but it ended up taking 4!!! Shige complained at the end, I was pretty shocked (O_O) Either way, I did learn some neat stuff:
- Their walls are fire-resistant! Like if an area is set on fire, it doesn't spread- totally self contained.
- The houses can absorb really huge earthquakes with this (kinda)-rubber ball hydraulic system.
- They use some king of super-insulation
- and the coolest thing is: they make the house at a warehouse on an assembly line!!! All of the parts are thoroughly inspected for perfectness, then the parts are shipped out to where the house will be, and they just assemble it- usually in 2 days!!! Isn't that great?? In Canada, they always build right on the spot and it takes them like a year to do it, and since it's all handmade, there's usually tons of small mistakes.
If I ever have 500,000CAD lying around, I may get myself a Misawa House. But that'll never happen soooo yeah. LOL.
After they showed us a video of how great their insulation is, the tour group left the room and Shige and I stayed behind to take pics.
Yup. We're cool =P
On the bus back, Shige pulled out a seat from the side of his seat- so a makeshift seat in the middle of the aisle. Apparently, if you're willing to sit on this for 8 hours all the way to Osaka, you can get a ticket at 1/3rd the regular price!
No, thanks.
haha
Damn you Miffy!!! Why did I let you lure me into the rabbit hole??
First, I have to say that Japanese showhomes are nothing like Canadian ones. At all. I have never seen anything like these homes before. All of them had very very very distinct and unique styles. Some were like mazes (to maximize space) and many had cool features that I never would have dreamed about in my entire life; such as building the house around an open patio- so that you can look up to see the sky, but no one can see you since it's 100% enclosed by your house. Neat.
The area had 12 showhomes, but we only got to see four.
You can see the enclosed patio in the back here. This was the coolest basements I've seen, speakers lined the walls!! The only downside is there was no shower, just a toilet(>.<)
Insane.
When we were viewing the Misawa House showhome, they tricked us into going to the main company office for a tour. They said it would be like 2 hours, but it ended up taking 4!!! Shige complained at the end, I was pretty shocked (O_O) Either way, I did learn some neat stuff:
- Their walls are fire-resistant! Like if an area is set on fire, it doesn't spread- totally self contained.
- The houses can absorb really huge earthquakes with this (kinda)-rubber ball hydraulic system.
- They use some king of super-insulation
- and the coolest thing is: they make the house at a warehouse on an assembly line!!! All of the parts are thoroughly inspected for perfectness, then the parts are shipped out to where the house will be, and they just assemble it- usually in 2 days!!! Isn't that great?? In Canada, they always build right on the spot and it takes them like a year to do it, and since it's all handmade, there's usually tons of small mistakes.
If I ever have 500,000CAD lying around, I may get myself a Misawa House. But that'll never happen soooo yeah. LOL.
After they showed us a video of how great their insulation is, the tour group left the room and Shige and I stayed behind to take pics.
Yup. We're cool =P
On the bus back, Shige pulled out a seat from the side of his seat- so a makeshift seat in the middle of the aisle. Apparently, if you're willing to sit on this for 8 hours all the way to Osaka, you can get a ticket at 1/3rd the regular price!
No, thanks.
haha
Damn you Miffy!!! Why did I let you lure me into the rabbit hole??