There are various cheap housing options available in Japan: hostels, guest houses, capsule hotels, homestay families, dorms, et cetera. Although I've never tried any of those, I did stay in a gaijin house for seven months. It was the perfect first home for me in Japan.
In September of 2007 I came to Osaka for my exchange program, and wanted to get an apartment of my own. Not a dorm room where I'd have a curfiew, or a host family that I'd have to call everytime I wouldn't be back for dinner, but an affordable private room with no babysitting bullcrap or other annoyances. Of course I had to sacrifice some things such as getting my laundry done by the host mom or getting two meals per day in the dorm cafeteria. But what I really wanted was a place that allowed me to be independent.
Don't you ever get sick of eating domburi, sushi, yakiniku, miso soup, takoyaki, and above all... RICE! Every... effing... week. Obviously not. How stupid of me to ask. But I think it's only natural to crave something as repulsive as big, grea... juicy Double Quarter Pounders with fries after countless weeks of noodle-slurping and fine-tuning chopstick skills as an ascetic hermit in the misty mountains of Hyogo.
There are various cheap housing options available in Japan: hostels, guest houses, capsule hotels, homestay families, dorms, et cetera. Although I've never tried any of those, I did stay in a gaijin house for seven months. It was the perfect first home for me in Japan.
I was going through my daily stuff in the afternoon when I noticed Kai, our younger cat, looking startled and meowing towards the balcony. We had the balcony door open to cool down the room, and at first I thought she was just curious about the birds chirping nearby. But soon we realized that the ruckus was being raised by cats - or abandoned kittens to be exact!
The Expo Memorial Park in Suita City is home to the 65-meter Tower of Sun (Taiyou no Tou). It was built by Taro Okamoto to symbolize the Expo '70.
