Hi Charlie, my wife has become totally addicted to japanese way of housing, thus nowdays we´re going to build a japanese house (in Europe!). I´m always looking for new ideas of interiors, their solutions and genius loci, thus if there is a will from your side i would very much appreciate few pictures from your japanese housing experience. You can place them for example at
www.SeeMyLiving.com , or anywhere else, or i can of course send you my email.
Good luck in Japan. Don´t forget to visit the famous Tokyo National Museum and the town of Bepu, where the most brilliant Onsens are.
Regards
Robert