LD's Guide to Japan

Tokyo-based architect Alastair Townsend is writing a series of posts on his blog entitled “A Few Things,” about Japanese housing design as compared to western design.  Each focuses on a different aspect of housing design, and half are entitled ”A Few Things The West Could Learn From Japan About Housing” while the other half are “A Few Things Japan Could Learn From The West About Housing.”  He’s a good and thoughtful writer—incorporating a lot of history and culture into each entry—and it’s interesting to learn these things from an architect’s point of view.

I found the first entry about Japanese baths (called “ofuro”) particularly interesting, especially because he mentions the new technologies that Japan has developed for their ofuro, such as the ability to fill and heat (or even re-heat) the bath to your desired temperature remotely—via cell phone—so your bath will be ready and waiting for you whenever you want it.