Moving stuff

Tuesday Sept. 9

So today was supposed to be our 1st car day; however, due to it also being the day to finally move the appliances from the apartment to the house, 1st car day has been bumped back to tomorrow. We left the house at around 10.20, had our friend drive us to the main office where we met up with the boss who was going to procure a truck to move the larger appliances. When I say larger appliances, keep in mind this is a relative term. We had to move the fridge, stove, washing machine, TV, its stand, a desk, and some miscellaneous items. I'm going to provide pictures, but they don't always give an exact representation of size. Here's a breakdown for ya:

Fridge - About 4ft tall, 17in across, 17in deep. It probably weighed less than my bass amp back home, which I'd guess is about 60lbs. Easily moved by one person, though a little awkward as it leaks if not kept upright.

Washer - around 3ft tall. At least 10lbs lighter than the fridge. About the same size in depth and width.

TV - Tube television. I want to say 27in screen. 30 - 40lbs.

TV Stand - About 30lbs. Fits the TV. 'Nuff said.

Stove - The stove's are hilarious. They're the equivalent of a hibachi. Gas powered, there are two burners, and a tiny little oven that looks more like a place to put an optical drive in a computer, though the depth of the cavity goes back a good 8-10in. You could cook a small steak, perhaps a chicken breast... the possibilities are endless! Suffice to say, we shall not be cooking a Christmas duck anytime soon.

This was all transported with the use of a Suzuki truck. It's a little flat nose truck with a bed in the back, the walls and tailgate being about 12in tall. The bed itself was about 4x5ft. Not a large truck by any means. This managed to fit everything listed above plus the microwave (which also function as convection and toaster ovens here), laundry detergent, and the desk (a 3 tiered Ikea special, only lower quality and most likely not Ikea) managed to fit around the multitude of items, as it was fairly open and not a mass of solid wood.

The REALLY interesting part about the truck is that it was not owned by either the boss, a teacher, a friend, or even a casual acquaintance. Nor was it a rental vehicle. It was owned by a hardware store. In Japan, hardly anyone owns a truck for personal use, so when shopping at stores that specialize in lumber, gardening supplies, etc. they LOAN you a truck so that you can transport your purchase home. If you keep the vehicle for more than an hour you're dinged with a fuel charge, but otherwise it's a 1hr courtesy vehicle. So instead of renting a vehicle, the boss went to the hardware/garden supply store and purchased ¥6000 worth of dirt (about $60), took it home, then swung by the apartment so that we could load it up. Dropped it off at the house, then returned the truck. Done.

Type of truck used. The sides fold down as well as the tailgate.