Back to the Coin Laundry
I haven’t been to the coin laundry in many years, but throughout October I have to visit that old institution, because my old washing machine didn’t do me the favor of holding out for another few weeks before moving to my new place.
The plan was anyway to get a new washing machine and to commence the old one to the washing machine graveyard, but I had hoped to be able to work with the old one until the move. The 11 year-old beast started to leak from the bottom in August and leaked ever more and there came the point when I thought it would be better to turn to the coin laundry rather than risking a flood in my old apartment.
Last time I’ve been in a coin laundry in Japan is some ten years ago or so!
I was kinda afraid there aren’t any coin laundries left but far from it. Internet search revealed several in the vicinity of my old apartment and the closest one is only five minutes by bicycle.
Looks like coin laundries won’t run out of business in Japan because there are a) washing machines for futons and other big stuff and b) probably unmarried elderly men who frequent these establishments.
The guys I saw in the past three weeks in the coin laundry all look kinda shady! Lol. I wasn’t aware that there are so many shady men around here. One or the other of them looked rather unwashed himself, kinda rare in Japan, but hey, at least he is washing some of his clothes once in a while.
Behind my immediate neighborhood is a collection of so-called “danchi”. Simple apartment blocks built in the sixties, seventies or eighties and now their rent is dirt cheap considering their age. And apparently single-looking elderly men live in those apartments who don’t have washing machines. I got one or the other strange look. What’s that foreigner woman doing here in our domain??? Lol. But other than that they ignored me and left me alone.
One week there were also two women in the coin laundry, quite young, and I wonder how they fit into the coin laundry picture.
Anyway, tomorrow will be my last round in the coin laundry, next weekend is the move and after that I will have a fine, nice, new washing machine and won’t have to drag my dirty clothes around anymore, very happy about that!
Due to the move, by the way, the blog will be paused next weekend. I’ll be back here in November. Cheers!
