Won't Miss #12 - my ghastly water heater

Older Japanese buildings were not built with hot water capability in the kitchen. This wasn't because hot water wasn't available in homes since my building is only 25 years old and Japan certainly had the plumbing for hot water heating a quarter century ago. It was because it wasn't seen as a necessity to have hot water available in the kitchen. I'm not sure if they washed dishes with cold water