A friend of mine arrived to teach English at an Eikawa here in Tokyo. He arrived from his native California thinking “ I am going to live in a Mansion in Tokyo, how cool is that?!” Now, lets analyse what was going through his head. He was thinking :” I am going to live in a huge house , perhaps with a jacuzzi (Japanese love bahing in hot boiling water, right?) , a nice view of the city , perhaps it is a designer type of architecture mansion , with the latest technology , yea! I’ll clap my hands and the lights will go off and on! and we will have plenty of space for parties or gatherings…it is a mansion after all”
Well…imagine his surprise when he saw a normal apartment in the 10th floor of a concrete building with nothing as special or luxurious as described above…”not even technological toilets” he said. What he didn’t know is that in Japan Mansion has another definition from the Amercian concept. Mansions in Japan are residential buildings that usually have more than 3 or 4 stories. They are mainly constructed out of reinforced concrete or steel reinforced with concrete and they don’t have the luxury of an American mansion. Apartments are made out wood and they are not in buildings as tall as the ones with Mansions…. be careful in your apartment search and don’t be fooled by this cultural difference :p