[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by dogsbody70

the other thing that I wonder about is about seating around a table If it is not a western style home, do people have to kneel down to eat around a very low legged table?

These days, it`s pretty normal to have a table with chairs around it in a house. In houses with a Japanese style room (most modern houses have one somewhere for guests and to install an altar in when someone dies), there is almost always a low table but it seems to hardly ever be used for meals.

On the other hand, in winter people bring out the kotatsu - a table with a heating element on the underside, a removable tabletop, and a large comforter sort of attached. (You put the comforter over the table base and then put the tabletop on it.) 95% of the time these are low tables. They sell some high versions, but they aren`t really all that common - I have yet to encounter one in someone`s house. Even people with dining tables will usually eat at the kotatsu in winter because it is usually bitterly cold in the house. With the high cost of heating, it`s pretty normal to not have much of any heating other than inside the kotatsu. You stick your legs under the cover and keep them toasty warm.

We used to have a dining table, but it was easier just to eat at the low table year round... So even though our place is very new with a counter type kitchen and dedicated dining space, we no longer have a table and chairs.
My husband`s family live in a very traditional old house, and tend to eat breakfast and lunch at a dining table but eat dinner at a low table. This includes great-grandmother who is almost 90.

I know that I would find that impossible to do if I did come to Japan.

You don`t need to kneel - it is fairly accepted to stretch your legs out. This is particularly true for older people, as kneeling is just as hard on older Japanese people.

Are japanese people mostly smaller or shorter than many Westerners?

I would say on average a bit shorter. But there are plenty of very tall people too. In my observance, it`s not all that hard to find very tall men but there don`t seem to be many very tall women. I can think of several men over 6 feet tall, but no women even close.

HOw long have there been showers available in Japan? daft question maybe-- but I was brought up to have a strip wash.

I seem to recall them being made popular after the war, as they were installed in the countless housing projects constructed to accommodate those who had either lost their homes or moved to the cities to escape the poor situations in the countryside.
Before this people would use a large bowl to get a scoop of water from the hot bath and use it for washing, then throw away and use a smaller bowl with handle to scoop more to rinse the large bowl and themselves before getting into the bath.

I do find this whole subject of deep interest. sounds pretty uncomfortable for many of you having to squeeze inside a bath way too small for you.

This is one of the misfortunes of being a poor student or short-term worker. In general, baths are quite spacious and very comfortable... But if you`re in a small apartment not worried about comfort but more about location, convenience, and price (or if the tiny apartment has been arranged for you by your school or workplace), the comfort of your bath will be quite low on the scale of importance. A lot of people judge life in Japan based on their experience in that sort of housing, which is really unfair... Much like judging the life of any country by the cheapest, smallest apartment or dorm room.

also there used to be public slipper baths for people who did not have a bath tub at home which was very common back then

Public baths were also quite common in Japan too, but have slowly fallen out of daily use (most everyone has their own bath these days) so have really gone more for a novelty market. Those still around are usually very nice and fancy things, giving you a type of luxury bathing experience that you couldn`t have at home. The remaining daily-use public baths are slowly fading away and going out of business.

Originally Posted by MMM

Trust me there was no where to bathe outside of the shower/bath. I couldn't even sit on the toilet and close the door without banging my knees. The only open space in my unit bath was the bath/shower.

What matters isn`t the space, but whether there was a seal around the door.
If you could stand in front of your toilet with your back against the door - it`s space enough to wash (in the mind of unit bath designers, at least.)