So I've finished a move to Japan for a job as a translator here and I was lent a house to live in by my company. I know from my past experience as an exchange student in Japan that three-prong wall outlets are not standard and may only appear in rooms that has water pipes, like the kitchen, bathroom and toilet.
In my new house however all wall outlets are two-pronged, even in the bathroom. A very few number of wall outlets in the kitchen and bathroom (but not the toilet) has special earth outlets (bellow the normal two-pronged outlets) for connecting things like refrigerators and washing machines, but neither the washing machine nor the refrigerator are using it! The washing machine do have a green & yellow earth cable but it's just tucked in behind the washing machine on the floor and it doesn't even have cable shoe terminal in the end.
While the refrigerator doesn't seem to be grounded it is connected through a device with a big red lamp that says 警報停止 (which means "alarm stop" or something like that). I guess it could be some kind of ground fault circuit interrupter or something but I have no idea really.
The floor in the house is wooden in all rooms except the bedrooms that are covered in broadloom rugs and the bathroom and toilet that are covered in plastic mats. It's not a Japanese style house, although some things like the bathroom is quite typical Japanese with separate bathtub and shower area.
I'm a little worried that this could be dangerous, especially that the washing machine isn't grounded, it does have a plastic chassis though. Another problem is the fact that my Swedish laptop I bring with me to Japan uses a grounded plug which can't be connected to a non-grounded travel-adapter. I do have a grounded travel adapter as well but it use the three-pronged type of connector that this house totally lacks. The laptop has a plastic cover so I guess it's quite safe to use ungrounded but I'd better be safe than sorry.
Anyone that know about this kind of stuff? Any good advice is appreciated!
In my new house however all wall outlets are two-pronged, even in the bathroom. A very few number of wall outlets in the kitchen and bathroom (but not the toilet) has special earth outlets (bellow the normal two-pronged outlets) for connecting things like refrigerators and washing machines, but neither the washing machine nor the refrigerator are using it! The washing machine do have a green & yellow earth cable but it's just tucked in behind the washing machine on the floor and it doesn't even have cable shoe terminal in the end.
While the refrigerator doesn't seem to be grounded it is connected through a device with a big red lamp that says 警報停止 (which means "alarm stop" or something like that). I guess it could be some kind of ground fault circuit interrupter or something but I have no idea really.
The floor in the house is wooden in all rooms except the bedrooms that are covered in broadloom rugs and the bathroom and toilet that are covered in plastic mats. It's not a Japanese style house, although some things like the bathroom is quite typical Japanese with separate bathtub and shower area.
I'm a little worried that this could be dangerous, especially that the washing machine isn't grounded, it does have a plastic chassis though. Another problem is the fact that my Swedish laptop I bring with me to Japan uses a grounded plug which can't be connected to a non-grounded travel-adapter. I do have a grounded travel adapter as well but it use the three-pronged type of connector that this house totally lacks. The laptop has a plastic cover so I guess it's quite safe to use ungrounded but I'd better be safe than sorry.
Anyone that know about this kind of stuff? Any good advice is appreciated!