Why people dont use dryers in japan?

Travel Info
i see cloths hanging in the balcony in most japanese homes. why not use dryers when most of them use washers any ways......

Travel Tips

Some people do. Many households with two working parents have tumble dryers, and relatively new condos almost always have built-in bathroom dryers which are primarily used for warming up bath/shower room in winter and for drying it after use, but can also be used for drying clothes. Both are handy especially in the rainy season, but why use electric dryer when you can simply air-dry laundry? Source(s): Tokyo resident
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Dryers take up valuable space, and use up expensive electricity. Almost everyone has a balcony, and clothes last longer air drying than they do being put in a dryer all the time.

Now that I'm living back in Canada, I've started hanging my clothes out to dry when weather allows, and don't need new t-shirts nearly as often.
It's just a space problem. Ordinary Japanese houses are small and made to save a lot of spaces by cutting unnecessary things in the house. While it will be nice to use the clothes drier during rainy season in June, it's not really an important thing to have it in every household. It's nice to 'smell the sunshine' on your bedsheets or towels after you dry them under the sun. You must try it to know this! You save lots on power bill, too!
One problem with Japanese homes is damp (tatami attracts it, for instance), so hanging clothes inside contributes to the problem. In addition, sunshine kills mould, so hanging outside helps get rid of that build-up.

As mentioned in other answers, not every home has a tumble dryer, and given that electricity costs in Japan are rather high, why waste money on that when you can hang them outside for nothing?
A clothes dryer is considered to be a luxury appliance in Japan (as it is in many other countries, including Germany, or so I am told.) Electricity is much more expensive in Japan than in America, space is at a premium, and the dryer doesn't seem as necessary.

I totally missed my dryer- it sounds like everybody else's clothing came in smelling significantly better than mine did! And I was out in the country. But sure, you can live without it, no problem!
I have to agree with flemmingbee.

We actually have two dryers. Our washing machine is actually a washer/dryer and our bathroom turns into a big dryer.
However I usually hang the clothes out on the balcony (we were lucky enought to be able to design our house to have a main terrace balcony at the front of the houseand a "service" balcony for hanging clothes)
I only use the dryer(s) when it`s raining outside or I need to get things dry overnight. As a working mother I find I use the dryer more the more I am working. At the moment, I only work 2 days a week and so am usually home in the mornings to hang out my washing on the balcony like a good housewife:)

And yes....if I use the dryers our electicity bills shoot up.....it`s pretty expensive!