an electric curling iron. ...Placing various electric appliances (in a kitchen) and cooking with them is essential to making it easier to work in this small space. An electric stove, an electric oven, an electric refrigerator, an electric dishwashers, etc. must be wired properly in appropriate spaces. This, however, did not mean that a completely electric house had become common. On 1937, J. G. Douglass from General Electric conducted a half-year research on how many electric appliances made into a common household. According to this report: Electric iron - 3,131,000 (approximately 120,000 in Tokyo area) Refrigerator - 12,215 (4,700) Room cooler - 260 (125) Vacuum cleaner - 6,610 (3,100) Washing machine - 3,197 (1,590) This research project also predicted that four years later, in 1941, electric appliances should be much more widely used. A 490% increase was predicted for the refrigerator, 470% increase for the vacuum cleaner, and 150% increase for iron. The first public water service began on October 17, 1887, in Yokohama. By the early 1900s, most major cities had water services. However, these water pipes often led to public water taps. In 1892, a survey conducted in Yokohama revealed that less than 1 in 4 households had a private water tap. 18,184 households used public water taps, while only 5,120 household used private water taps. By the 1930s, most new houses were constructed with a private water taps, but it would take another 30 years to become available in a village far from a city. The "ordinary person's dream kitchen" In 1912, a progressive woman's magazine Fujin no tomo (婦人の友) ran a contest for a heiminteki risouno daidokoro (平民的理想の台所), or "ordinary people's sophisticated kitchen." Heimin, literally "average person," was a popular phrase in the 1910s and 1920s, and it implied a well-educated and progressive person. Fifty-two contest entries were sent by readers, and two were awarded grand prizes. These winners were called "the city kitchen" and "the village kitchen". The city kitchen was about 15.5 square metres in size and was intended to be used by a wife and her mother-in-law. The kitchen had doors leading to the dining room, the bath, and the laundry area. It had a wooden floor, roughly one-fourth of which included underfloor food storage lined with concrete. Two kamado were at one end, and a separate portable stove using charcoal was set up in the middle of the room. Next to the