Will it be a kawaiifest?

  Alright, I realize that there are probably as many ways to live in Japan as there are people in Japan.  So what am I looking for in my Ohio-Japanese home?

1. A good use of little space.  I live in a very small home.  It's not an apartment, but at 700 square feet it sure feels like one at times with two adults and a toddler.  The Japanese have a knack for using every inch of living space to its full potential out of necessity, and it's a skill I'd love to master.

2. Typical Japanese furnishings.  Now I know that this is again kind of a wide-open category, but really I'm not trying to make a reproduction of a home from any region or time period.  I want to have the items in my home make me feel as if I live in a home in modern Japan, not a movie set from an Edo-period drama.

3. Adapt a more Japanese lifestyle.  This includes cooking, exercise, money, more walking and biking, and things I probably haven't even thought of yet.

  What do I have to guide me in this quest?  Well, um, not much to be honest.  I've never been to Japan, much less stepped foot in a Japanese home.  My resources at this moment are: the Internet (knower of all things), Japanese dramas (time to pull out my copy of Zettai Kareshi), and what I could get out of my Japanese teachers without sounding like a freak (could you tell me about your fish grill AGAIN Morioka Sensei?).  All in all, that's not much fact or visuals to go off of.  I'm hoping this blog will help too, maybe someone will take notice and send me some suggestions?

  Right now the thing I want to focus on is a futon set for each member of my family.  A brief description for those only familiar with the western futon, Japanese futons are not the uncomfortable couch/bed/back-killers we have here in the States. They look like this:

Very simply put it is a thick, springless mattress that lays on the floor, usually on a tatami mat, that you sleep on.  I have a bad back and I've heard they're great for your spine, so that's why I want to start here.  Plus, I hope that if I like the futon enough to switch out my regular mattress for it that it'll clear up a decent amount of space in my room to allow for exercise, hobbies, et cetera.  Unfortunately there are no retailers of futon sets anywhere that I know of in Ohio, so some hunting will have to be done.