November 2012: the apartment

Kevin lives in a "mansion."  That's what they called condos here that have a locked entry way.  You have to insert a key into the box by the front door.

The name of the building "Ober Grandiouse Heart Island"

The name cracks me up.

There is a Christmas tree in the atrium.  On December 15th they are having a building Christmas party. Kevin is supposed to play Santa again this year.

2011

You walk through the atrium to an outside covered walkway to the elevator.  The entrance to the apartment is on the outside walkway on the eighth floor.

The apartment is considered large for Tokyo.  There are 3 bedrooms, kitchen, toilet room, bathroom and tatami room.

The first room you enter is a step lower than the rest of the apartment.  This is where you leave your shoes.

The bathroom is great.  You first walk into the sink and vanity area.  Then there is a door for the shower room.  The whole room is your shower.  There's a drain in the floor.  This would be a good design for my house.  There would be no need to remodel the bathroom for wheelchair access.  There is also a Japanese style bathtub in the room with bars going across for laundry.  The tub is deeper than American bathtubs.

The toilet room has a small sink and the toilet.  

The toilet has the fancy Japanese toilet seat that is heated and has bidet functions.

 Kenny has his own bedroom.  There is a master bedroom with a good sized closet.

I'm using the master bedroom during my visit.

Kevin is using the third bedroom as a study.

The kitchen is a typical apartment size but has a lot more storage space.

The large family room includes the dining area.  The tatami room is visible in the background.  Futons are stored in the cabinets and brought out at bedtime.  Kevin and Tomoko prefer sleeping in the tatami room with Kenny.  Stowing the futons during the day frees up the space for other uses.

There is a covered balcony that is accessible through sliding glass doors in Kevin's study and the living room.  Lines for laundry extend the length of the balcony.

The Japanese conserve energy by drying laundry outside.

The river is visible from the balcony.  There is a fire station that also does training by the river.