冷蔵庫 – Japan’s First Fridge
In 1930 Hayashi Fumiko moved in to a house in Kami Ochiai, a village on the Zenpukuji River now in the north-west part of Shinjuku. Her book “Hōrōki” – or “Diary of a Vagabond” was published later that year, leading to success as an author, and she began to think about building her own house.
Meanwhile, Tokyo Electric Company, who sold imported fridges made by General Electric, decided to produce Japan’s first Domestic Refrigerator. The imported models were too expensive for all but the wealthiest households, so it had to be made locally., They collaborated with Shibaura Engineering Works, and the two companies merged to form Toshiba. Their SS-1200 fridge was modelled closely on GE’s “Monitor Top” DR-2, with its distinctive top-mounted helical condensing unit.
Making the fridge affordable solved part of the problem, but the typical Japanese house of the time was not really suitable for an electric refrigerator. Most of the kitchen functions were relegated to a separate outhouse, for fire safety reasons, as wood or charcoal were used for cooking.
Fumiko bought a plot of land facing the river and her “Dream House” slowly took shape. With electric cooking and water heating, the kitchen, bathroom and toilet could all be brought into the main house. The kitchen was equipped with efficient counter tops and storage, which allowed the home owner to reduce the number of domestic servants or do without them entirely,
Fumiko’s house was built in typical Japanese style, with sangawara roof, and tatami rooms allowing multi-purpose use, in her case as writing studio during the day and bedroom at night. In combination with utility rooms equipped with up to date electrical equipment and finished in durable surfaces, this forms the model for most modern Japanese homes of today.
You can visit Hayashi Fumiko’s house near Nakai station on the Oedo and Seibu Shinjuku lines.
See Hayashi Fumiko Memorial Hall