Regarding the fact that Japan is not such a large country, before coming to Japan, I somehow imagined a lot of tall apartment buildings at residential districts like the ones in Korea where it is so common to live in a 15 or more storeys apartment. However the reality was that, even if the houses are typically せまい, it is more likely that people live in a two or three storeys houses rather than apartments!! Anyway this was another case of a collusion of cultural assumptions that I've formed in past.
Another interesting thing about apartments in Japan is that they are called マンション!!
It is no wonder how we, 外国人, cannot hide the mixed expression of surprise and admiration when we first hear Japanese casually mention the mansion as just another form of a living place. Doesn't this country (I'm sure any other countries in this big big world do too!) offers something interesting and funny everyday for us, foreigners!!
1 comment:
I'm not sure if I agree with your claim about more people living in houses than apartments. There are a lot of apartments out there. What do you base this claim on?
Also, you are not using the terms "collusion" or "cultural assumption" the way Befu does in his article. Collusion and cultural assumptions occur within a culture, not by outsiders looking in.
-scf
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