About housing in Kumamoto and MN

1.      Introduction

Everyone lives in a house and there are many kinds of houses. They differ not only by the type of house but also inside the houses depending on circumstances and places people live in.

This report is about housing in Kumamoto, Japan and Minnesota, U.S. It was done by Google questionnaire directed at college students who live in Kumamoto and Minnesota. It was taken on June 3, 2013 in Kumamoto and September 4, 2013 in Minnesota. There were 89 people from Minnesota (55%), and 73 people were Americans, (45%) survey said.

2.      Questionnaire results

In Kumamoto, according to Fig. 1-a, 19 people (22%) answered they live in a one-story house, 34 people (39%) live in a two-story house, 7 people (8%) live in a

 

Fig. 1-a What kind of housing do you live in? (Kumamoto)

condominium, 23 people (26%) live in an apartment, 4 people (4%) live in a three-story house, and one person (1%) lives in a dormitory.

In Minnesota, according to Fig. 1-b, 6 people (9%) answered one-story house, 47 people (69%) live in two-story house, there are no person who live in condominium, 7 people (10%) live in apartment, 3 people (4%) live in three-story house, 4 people (6%) live in dormitory, 2 people (2%) live in another kind of house, this survey said.

 

Fig. 1-b. What kind of housing do you live in? (Minnesota)

         People in Kumamoto live in different type of houses like one-story house, two-story house, condominium, apartment, three-story house, dormitory.　On the other hand, most people in Minnesota live in two-story houses. Only a few people live in apartments and no one lives in condominiums probably because American family is big and to buy a house is part of the American dream.

             The next question was “Are your bath and your toilet in the same room?” In Kumamoto, according to Fig. 4-a, only 8 people (9%) answered bath and toilet are in the same room. 81 people (91%) answered they are not in the same room. In Minnesota, on the other hand, according Fig. 4-b, 63 people (90%) answered that the bath and toilet are in the same room. 7 people (7%) answered that they are not in the same room. It is just the opposite result. American people does not custom to immerse in bath because America is not rich in water[m2].

 

Fig. 4a-b. Are your bath and your toilet in the same room?

             

In Kumamoto, according to Fig. 5, 37 people  (41%) answered they had a garden with trees, 34 people (38%) answered with flowers, 27 people (30%) answered with grass, 12 people (13%) answered with vegetables/fruit, and 30 people answered they had no yard or garden. In Minnesota, 52 people (71%) answered they had a garden with trees, 43 people (58%) answered with flowers, 56 people (76%) answered with grass, 20 people (27%) answered with vegetables/fruit, 5 people (6%) answered they had no yard or garden.

Fig. 5. Do you have a yard or garden?

              In Kumamoto, 30 people did not have a yard or garden, but in Minnesota, only 5 people had no yard or garden. As for yards with grass, American answers were twice as high as the Japanese answers probably because gardening is a hobby of many American people.

To heat their homes, in Kumamoto, according to Fig. 6a, 30 people (35%) answered space heaters (electric), 16 people (18%) answered space heaters (gas or propane), 23 people (3%) answered central heating, 31 people (36%) answered wall air conditioners, 2 people (2%) answered none, 5 people (6%) answered other. In Minnesota, according to Fig. 6b, 7 people (10%) answered space heaters (electric), 10 people (14%) answered space heaters (gas or propane), 49 people (66%) answered central heating, 5 people (7%) answered wall air conditioners, there is no person who answered none, 2 people (3%) answered other.

Fig. 6a. What kind of heating do you use? (Kumamoto)

   

Fig. 6b. What kind of heating do you use? (Minnesota)

     On the other hand, for cooling, according to Fig. 7a, 29 people (34%) in Kumamoto answered they use electric fans 48 people (57%) answered wall air conditioners, 5 people (6%) central cooling, 1 person (1%) answered none, 2 people (2%) answered other. In Minnesota, according to Fig. 7b, 13 people (18%) answered electric fans, 14 people (19%) answered wall air conditioners, 45 people (62%) answered central cooling, one person (1%) answered none, and no one answered other.

Fig. 7a. What kind of cooling do you use? (Kumamoto)

Fig. 7b. What kind of cooling do you use? (Minnesota)

  For heating in Kumamoto, electric space heaters (34%) and wall air conditioners (37%) are used a lot. In Minnesota, central heating is the most used heating system. Two people in Kumamoto have no heater, but there were no person like that in Minnesota probably because Minnesota is very cold. In Kumamoto, wall air conditioners are most used for cooling, and the second most popular is electric fans. They occupy 90% of the answers. In Minnesota, 62% use central cooling, and the rest use wall air conditioners and electric fans. Also, there are few people who have no coolers. In Minnesota, many people use both central heating and central cooling, but people in Kumamoto doesn’t use it much at all.

           As to the age of their house, In Kumamoto, according to Fig. 8, 10 people (12%) answered less than 5 years old, 13 people (15%) answered 6-10 years, 39 people (45%) answered 11-20 years, 17 people (20%) answered 21-30 years. 5 people (6%) answered 31-50 years, 2 people (2%) answered more than 51. In Minnesota, no one answered less than 5 years old. 6-10 years old are 9 people (12%), 23 people (32%) answered 11-20 years old, 22 people (31%) answered 21-30 years old, 11 people (15%) answered 31-50 years old, 7 people (10%) answered more than 51 years old.

Fig. 8. How old is your house?

   In Kumamoto, 11-20 years was the most common answer, about half. The others were less than 5 years, 6-10 years and 21-30 years. 8% of people live in houses which are more than 31 years old. On the other hand, in Minnesota, 11-20 years and 21-30 years were the most common answers. Though there were few people who answered their houses were more than 31 years in Kumamoto, twice as many people in Minnesota answered they live in houses more than 31 years old. Also, there are no people who live in houses less than 5 years old, probably because used houses are popular in Minnesota.

3. Conclusion

            Through this report and my experience, I learned about differences between American houses and Japanese houses. In each country, people live in houses which suit the environment. For example, most American people use central heating or cooling because their houses are big.

From observation, it seemed that American people like to decorate houses and gardens more than Japanese. In Japan, there is no grass in gardens compared to America, where most yards have grass, flowers, and trees.

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