Drying Clothes in Japan: The Coin Laundry

There is only one thing I hate more than folding clothes, and that is hanging clothes out to dry.  I think it's the biggest waste of time! First you wash them, then you separate the wet mass of twisted clothes, and finally you have to hang them.  After they dry you have take them down, fold them, and then put them away.  To me this is the biggest waste of time of all things in my book of time wasters!  I don't know if you can feel it but I say this with the biggest passion in my voice!

So, in Japan they are washers, but most people don't have dryers, and if they do they are washer/dryer combinations that can dry like 3 T-shirts.  Japanese people are just used to hanging clothes, and "The Yank" here isn't. I have had a washer and a full sized drying since I can remember, so this is one old dog that doesn't want to learn new tricks! 

Luckily there are coin laundromats here in Japan too, and I make good use of them! I rarely if even use the washers there.  I usually do 1-3 loads of clothes in the washer and jump in my car and head to the coin laundry.  Even before I had a car or scooter, I would load up my big back pack and ride over to the coin laundry.  

The going rate for coin laundry's in Japan is about 100 yen for 10 minutes.  I usually dry a big load for about 40 minutes of so.  Four hundred yen to get a nice big load of laundry dry in about 40 minutes.  Talk about a time savings compared to hanging clothes.  

Gunte - The White Cotton Gloves from Japan

"Gunte" are this white knit gloves you see in the picture above.  Basically, they are work gloves that are used for anything you can think of.  From beach clean ups to taxi drivers driving gloves. They are really cheap and are usually sold in multi-packs. You can also get them at your local 7/11 or any other convenience store for that matter. The better deals are had at hardware stores or at work clothes shops.