Category: Lives

We do videos and posts about all kinds of things, but at the heart of Life in Japan is documenting what is happening as our family grows up here in Japan. And although you get a highly edited and polished version of our lives in Japan each week, I try to do my best to really show the challenges and benefits of living here. These aren’t always the easiest videos to make because, let’s face it — it’s our lives! But in the midst of that, there’s something in there that’s very special to share and I hope is encouraging to you as well.

If you’ve followed us for any amount of time, you know that Daiso’s are one of our favorite Japanese stores. Unless it’s marked, everything is ¥100. And while discount stores exist all around the world, you find some really great stuff. So when we got a chance to go to Daiso’s new flagship store in Ikebukuro, we knew we wanted to. Especially when we found out that there’s more than just a Diaso inside the Diaso.

In the big city, one of the hardest adjustments for large families is fitting into small places. Of course, you can find bigger places, but they come at a hefty cost and honestly, if you don’t have to live in the heart of the city, you can move to the outskirts and find a much bigger place for the same cost.

But at this point in our life, we needed to stay right where we are — in this community. So when we downsized from our previous place, we had to make it all work. Fast forward 6 months, we have felt what has worked and what hasn’t. We kept bumping into issues, especially in the limited space of our family room. So we decided to make our biggest change since our move, and one change led to another, which led to another, until eventually — well, you’ll see…

How about you? Have there been any changes that you’ve made to your living space that immediately made it better, whether it became more practical, more enjoyable or just nicer?