who lives in a house like this

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Originally uploaded by p1ckle.

is just one of the questions i ask myself about Japan. This is one of the houses near our (thankfully new-built) apartment, and is really cool, i reckon. Don't be deceived by the exterior - i'm assured that the outside appearance of a Japanese house bears no relation to the interior and/or the social status of those therein; think the property tax laws in France that calculate tax based on the appearance of the exterior, leading to many homes looking like crap on the outside and like Loius XVI's crashpad on the inside (or did i just make that up). I'm not as yet in a position to confirm/deny the veracity of this claim as i have yet to visit a home that wasn't a fellow teacher, but i'd be really interested to find out. That said, this house still has a real charm, and the old woman that lives inside is really happy-looking. Her garden really is something else - there's a flower there that has its own little umbrella to stop it getting wet. Only in Japan...