Houses in Japan
Image 1: Housing in Japan includes modern and traditional styles.
Two patterns of residences are predominant in contemporary Japan: the single-family detached house and the multiple-unit building, either owned by an individual or corporation and rented as apartments to tenants, or owned by occupants as condominiums.
Image 2: Typical Japanese houses usually have some Japanese style rooms, わしつ. They have tatami-mat flooring, たたみ, and paper sliding doors, しょうじ. Tatami is made of straw.
Image 1: A house with an old-style thatched roof near Mount Mitake, Tokyo. Photo taken by Haragayato. (CC BY-SA 3.0) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_house
Image 2: A public housing building provided by the government of Toky. Public Domain. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_house
Japanese houses are sometimes compared to rabbits’ houses, うさぎごや, because they are small. The photo on the left was taken in Miyajima, Hiroshima prefecture. Houses are built very close together, as is very common throughout Japan.
What Is Your House Like?
Let's learn to talk about our own homes. View the presentation by clicking on the image below to see and learn about the different parts of a typical home. You can also click Presentation to start the activity.
Presentation: What is your house like?
Here is a print version of this actvity. You will still need to use the online version to hear any audio.
Writing Practice
Vocabulary Practice
Practice your new vocabulary with this activity. Click the Vocabulary Practice link of click the Vocabulary Practice button below.
Vocabulary Practice
Here is a print version of this actvity. You will still need to use the online version to hear any audio.
どうぞ、ごゆっくり。
Japanese people, in general, tend to be very warm and receiving people. In English, we have a saying that says, “Make yourself at home.” You say this to someone if they come to your home and you want them to feel welcome. In Japanese, the saying that expresses the same idea is “どうぞ、ごゆっくり してください” or just “どうぞ ごゆっくり.”
Graded Assignments
Please return to the Section 2 Tasks & Assignments folder to complete the graded assignments for Section2, Part A.
