Japanese washing lines

This is how Japanese (and us when we live there) dry their washing if they cannot hang it outside for some reason. Most don't have dryers. Australians usually put them on airers, which sit on the floor, however that doesn't work so well in the small houses and apartments of Japan. The problem with hanging it inside like this is the raised humidity makes mould a problem. We also had an electric piano in this room, so avoided totally drying our clothes here.

This is how most people in Japan hang their washing out on the good days (of which there are many less than Queensland has) outside:
They've also got their beds out there - can you pick them?

This is a view down the skinny verandah (pretty typical) that I used to negotiate to hang out the washing. Long poles are supported on the "U" shaped slots. I started by pulling in the poles daily, but gave up after a while and just wiped the poles down everyday instead. I also tied the poles to the framework with wire so they didn't blow away.

You can see why I luxuriate in standing on grass and having such a large amount of line on which to hang the clothes. If I want to do it in my PJs, I can too - the neighbours cannot see me. Not so in Japan - you can see how close the houses are. Additionally just to the right of this last photo was a road - anyone could see me!