August 13, 2024

From Japan, with Love

A compilation of some of our most-loved NTS-featured Japanese homes, including indoor-outdoor spaces, oddly shaped lots, and family friendly spots.

As one of the most densely populated countries in the world, Japan is no stranger to tight living quarters. This compilation of some of our most-loved NTS-featured Japanese homes, including indoor-outdoor spaces, oddly shaped lots, and family friendly spots.

Writing:

Kate Kolberg

Photography:

Japanese Influence

Japan

Design Inspiration

Indoor Outdoor

Before

After

Top

Set on a 31sqm/334sqft plot of land in the central Bunkyo district of Tokyo, the uniquely shaped **Love2 House** belongs to architect Takeshi Hosaka and his wife.

“This is a single storey house. Originally we were planning to build a two storey house here, but my wife was reading a book about life in the Edo period where families of four lived in an area of just 9 sqm. So we thought, a single storey house with an area of 18 or 19 sqm would be possible for the two of us to live in”.

—Takeshi Hosaka, owner and architect of Love2 House

‍

Surrounded by 10-story neighbouring buildings, the design of the single-storey house responded directly to the need for both privacy and light, which Hosaka addressed with a high ceiling and a dynamic skylight.

In **the house for two**, a 46sqm/495sqft apartment was reimagined so that a mother and son could live their lives together while keeping their distance when needed, even in such a small space.

A shared living room space that doubles as the son's bedroom in the evening.

“It was very important that two adults, mother and son, could live their lives together while keeping their distance when needed, even in such a small space. The mother originally lived alone in this apartment, but after she was injured her son decided to move in with her and renovated the apartment to make their lives as comfortable and enjoyable as possible”.

—Kumiko Ouchi, Small Design Studio, architect of the house for two

The mother's bedroom in the house for two has access points on either side, allowing her direct entry to the bathroom from one end and the hall to the other.

Meguro Ward, Tokyo is home to a 50sqm/538sqft unique and compact residence called **Flagpole**, designed by architect Motoki Yasuhara.

A small landing accessible by a ladder serves as a place for meditation or reading. *Image by* *Toshiyuki Yano*.

“I was influenced by my trips throughout Japan, where I have stayed at traditional homes and, as far as privacy goes, plants are strategically planted”.

—David Sun, owner, Flagpole

An outdoor tub, secluded by the lush greenery around it.

A garden can be a rare sight in Tokyo. Sun uses the small plot to grow plants that offer them some joy and additional privacy.

Discover more NTS episodes based in Japan or with Japan-inspired designs.

This **45sqm/484sqft single-storey residence** is home to a family of five. Yousaka Tsusumi of Arbol Design created a unique space where they could surround themselves with the things they love.

“Living in today’s society, we are often overflowing with ‘things’. There is an emphasis on making more room to store them. We need to reconsider the things we own or just go back to the basics and live more minimally”.

—Yousaka Tsusumi, Arbol Design, architect of House in Heguri

The home’s relationship to the outdoors is emphasised by the porch entrance and outdoor living space, which are covered by a roof that allows them to enjoy it regardless of the weather.

To save space, a large kitchen island is used both as a prep surface and the dining table. It plays with the floor heights so that in the lowered kitchen, it can be used standing up, while in the raised living room floor, it is set at standard seating height.

Takeshi Hosaka of **Takeshi Hosaka Architects** and his wife wanted a home that would seamlessly combine the elements of nature and city life, so they created **Love House**: a 38sqm/409sqft house that balances indoor-outdoor living. It is their second residence, created after Love2 House.

When you open the front door, you are actually still outside. There is a curved outdoor staircase that leads to a Griffith's ash tree that Hosaka planted.

“The concept of the house was to feel like you are living outside. When I was a university student, I wanted to live in a house that felt like you were outside … Except for cold winters, we can leave the windows open and let the wind, rain, and insects in”.

—Takeshi Hosaka, owner and architect, Love House

From the top of the stairs, you can see the sunlight, sky, and shadows they create. They often use this area to sit, read, and drink coffee.

Not much wider than a parking spot, **6 Tsubo House** is a 56sqm/603sqft family home in Tokyo that makes the most of its vertical height with three storeys – the maximum for the area. A "tsubo" is a unit of measurement equal to approximately 3.3 square metres.

“Small inner city homes like 6 Tsubo can have all of the elements a user needs. But it is not only limited to the house itself; there is a great park and great infrastructure nearby. The whole city is an extension of the house”.

—Yugo Yamada, Arte-1 Architects, 6 Tsubo House

The fully equipped, completely stainless steel kitchen at 6 Tsubo House.

A small staircase in the bedroom leads to a rooftop terrace.

Architect Yutaro Ohta was inspired by the Sumido River outside his windows while designing the interior of **c/Steel**, his industrial 48sqm/516sqft apartment in Tokyo.

“I think the most important thing when designing a small space is to create a design that allows you to feel the atmosphere of the room as much as possible”.

—Yutaro Ohta, architect and owner, c/Steel

A view of the unique bathroom cube in the evening. *Images by Masaki Hamada.*

**Open Sky House** in Tokyo is home to a family of five. Designed by its owner Zajirogh and architect Yoshitaka Suzuki, the 57sqm/613sqft two-storey home maximises their available footprint through its ingenious sail-like contraption that covers a roofless courtyard-style living room.

“A small house is similar to a boat. Ever since I was a child, I have longed to live in a camper or on a ship. Ships are designed to live comfortably in a small space”.

—Zajirogh, owner, Open Sky House

A view of the open sky top that allowed the family to create a larger overall footprint for their home.

A view of the sail-like cover for the room being raised.

David Buchler shares **Tokyo Blue**, a 59sqm/635sqft apartment, with his partner Koichi, and their cat Sophie. The space was designed with the help of Architect Kei Makito from Roovice and makes the most of the natural light coming in from all sides through its lack of interior walls.

“In a small space everything is amplified. You know, spaces are a lot smaller here in Japan. Carefully and accurately crafting details in both design and construction is essential.”

—David Buchler, owner, Tokyo Blue

The couple wanted to create an industrial style that still infused a good amount colour throughout, like their bubblegum pink bathroom by the entrance.

Businesses featured in this project

No items found.

Products featured in this project

No items found.

From Japan, with Love: Some of our Favourite NTS-featured Japanese Homes

Japan is no stranger to tight living quarters. As one of the most densely populated countries in the world, it has gained a reputation for its kyosho jutaku (or, ultra-small homes) and its even smaller micro apartments. But pressure makes diamonds, as they say, and this is no exception: Japan’s spatial limitations have long since given rise to some of the most interesting and innovative feats of small footprint architecture and design. It is little surprise, then, that Japanese homes have been the subject of quite a few Never Too Small episodes over the years. They’ve varied in style from the more contemporary to the more quirky or rustic, and they exhibit a wide range of design ethos, but all exude a quintessentially Japanese grasp of the art of living.

An Architecture of Play

Zajirogh, an artist, architect, and homeowner, embodies this spirit more than most. While planning his Tokyo home with the help of architect Yoshitaka Suzuki, Zajirogh chanelled his childhood dream of living on a ship: “A small house is similar to a boat. Ever since I was a child, I have longed to live in a camper or on a ship. Ships are designed to live comfortably in a small space”. His playful spirit is tangible in Open Sky House, his 57sqm/613sqft two-storey home, which maximises its available footprint through its ingenious sail-like contraption that covers a roofless courtyard-style living room.

Architect Takeshi Hosaka, founder of TAKESHI HOSAKA architects, brought a similarly imaginative – and almost romantic – approach to the design of both his first and second homes: Love2 House and Love House. For the design of his first house, Love2 House, in the Bunkyo district of Tokyo, Hosaka and his wife discarded plans to build two storeys after reading a story about how people lived during the Edo period. “This is a single storey house. Originally we were planning to build a two storey house here, but my wife was reading a book about life in the Edo period where families of four lived in an area of just 9 sqm. So we thought, a single storey house with an area of 18 or 19 sqm would be possible for the two of us to live in”. The ground footprint may be small, but Hosaka managed to achieve a sense of spaciousness and awe through a dynamic skylight at the top of a tall pitched ceiling as well as a soaking tub outside the back door and a small garden across the footpath.

Nature as Muse

The fluid interplay of the interior world with that of the exterior is a theme that occurs time and again across their designs. Architect Yutaro Ohta, for example, used the Sumido River outside his windows as an inspiration – hoping to integrate its light and ambiance as much as possible in his 48sqm/516sqft industrial Tokyo apartment. For his clients in Heguri, architect Yousaka Tsusumi of Arbol Design created a large sliding door system to ensure the family of five could open their compact home to nature and easily move between the indoor and outdoor space.

The innovations of these designs extend well beyond considerations of style or even lifestyle preference into the realm of necessity as well. “As Japan’s population ages, the number of environments in which parents and children must live together has been increasing very rapidly”, noted architect Kumiko Ouchi of Small Design Studio who reimagined a 46sqm/495sqft apartment to make it comfortable for an ageing mother and her son to share. “It is important to consider a space where each can maintain an appropriate distance from each other while keeping a space for family to share”.

A Model for the Future of Small Space Design

Japan is certainly not the only nation facing demands on spatial limitations, but their know-how and experience makes them a great model for how to adapt to these changing limitations – in style.

‍

Discover more NTS episodes based in Japan or with Japan-inspired designs.

Writing:

Kate Kolberg

Photography:

Back to Top