Rooms of One's Own

On my recent birthday, I moved into my new lodgings with the grateful assistance of Y Sensei. I am now comfortably esconced in my new rooms, and I’m as happy as a harem girl in a Turkish bath after a hard night’s debauchery in the cushion room. Yes, living on one’s own is simply marvellous, but especially when one’s abode has charming details and Japanese touches.

The windows in my bedroom and drawing room are frosted with maple leaves, giving the rooms a classic autumnal atmos, whilst the bathroom and kitchen windows are etched with stars. Between my bathroom and bedroom are Japanese-style doors with intersecting wooden frames and squares of glass in between, this time frosted with feathery leaves. It looks so pretty when lit from behind! Leading into the drawing room are a set of traditional Japanese doors - white paper and wooden screens – with streaks of white-silver in the parchment, as is often seen in the quality paper of Asian lettersets.

The previous tenant painted the wooden beams in the bedroom black, set against white walls, which gives the room a European, actually very German, mood. The supplied bed has a wooden bedhead-and-bed-bottom, like a storybook bed, so the room is generally very old-fashioned which is fab. Hence I have decorated this room with all my art deco cards sent from friends and others that I collected in Kyoto. After my planned Tokyo trip in midsummer with Sgt M and the darling Sir S (which I’m madly saving yen for), I intend to further decorate it with the vintage-style Kiki lamp (this one has a glass, belled lampshade with a metal Jiji the cat perched on the base) and Kiki windchimes. Sadly the Ghibli Shoppe is rather too expensive to buy all these things now * sigh * but one can wait.

The desk in the drawing room commands a delightful view of the community vegetable garden, which is flourishing with onions and miscellaneous tubers, as well as leafy bushes and a variety of English cottage garden flowers, such as foxgloves and delphiniums. I have pinned up many of my traditional Japanese postcards sent from friends – including a scene of fireflies at dusk and a willow tree by the river – over my desk, which I can contemplate while click-clacking on my typewriter. I have assembled a hotch-potch futon chaise lounge on which I can drape myself in the stifling summer heat whilst fluttering a fan, or where I can catch up on the misadventures of Flashman or Phryne Fisher. A damaged board on the wall has been cunningly adorned with squares of washi paper, to distract and cover dubious stains.

My house is located on a charming lane. Many people trundle by on their bicycles, walk their dogs or flap about in the early morning in their dressing gowns, esp post-earthquake (see later post). A nefarious gang of feral cats haunt the area, rodgering dainty housebreeds and messing on my front step. I was horrified when I noticed a fishy whiff emanating from the porch, and cursed the blighters when I had to stoop down and scrub the step with a frothy bucket and hardwire brush, fishwife-style. Must add pearl-handled water pistol to shopping list.

More pics to come soon!