Tag Archives: japan

Two Homes, One Shell: Inside Japan’s Most Ingenious Tiny House

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Nestled in the mountains of Nozawaonsen, Nagano, a young company called Ikigai Collective is rewriting the rules of compact living. Their latest creation, the Yamabiko, challenges everything we thought we knew about tiny houses. At just 6.6 meters long, this remarkable dwelling doesn’t squeeze one living space into its metal frame. It fits two. The concept sounds impossible until you see it. Two front doors hint at the Yamabiko’s clever secret: a perfectly mirrored layout that splits the home down the middle. Enter through the left door, and you’ll find a complete living space with a lofted bedroom, compact kitchen, and cozy lounge area. The right side offers an identical setup, reversed like a reflection. Between them sits a shared bathroom, the only space where the two halves meet.

This isn’t just architectural cleverness for its own sake. Ikigai Collective designed the Yamabiko specifically for staff accommodation in Japan’s seasonal resort towns. Ski instructors, hospitality workers, and summer camp employees often require housing that strikes a balance between privacy and efficiency. The Yamabiko delivers both. Two people can live independently under one roof, each with their own kitchen and sleeping loft, while sharing a single bathroom and utility connection. The exterior speaks to Japanese minimalism through its utilitarian Galvalume steel cladding. This durable material handles everything from heavy mountain snow to coastal humidity, aging gracefully while maintaining its modern edge. The design doesn’t shout for attention. It simply exists, blending into mountain landscapes and urban lots with equal ease.

Designer: Ikigai Collective

Inside, the spaces feel surprisingly complete despite their compact footprint. Each kitchen comes equipped with a two-burner propane stove and sink. The living rooms feature built-in seating and small tables. Loft bedrooms provide privacy without wasting precious floor space below. Every centimeter serves a purpose, reflecting the Japanese principle of functional beauty. The shared bathroom sits strategically between both living areas, creating the connection point where the two mirrored halves meet while maintaining the independence of each space.

Ikigai Collective keeps customization at the forefront. Buyers can select their color scheme, choose between flooring options, design their shower layout, and pick between standard or composting toilets. The starting price of ¥9,900,000 positions the Yamabiko as a serious housing solution rather than a lifestyle experiment. The timing feels right. Japan is slowly embracing tiny living as urban space grows scarcer and younger generations seek alternatives to traditional housing. Ikigai Collective was founded just two years ago by people who came to Japan and fell in love with its culture. They’re not just importing Western tiny house trends. They’re creating something distinctly Japanese, built for Japanese needs and sensibilities.

For those curious to experience the Yamabiko firsthand, Ikigai Collective operates a showroom village in Iiyama where visitors can book overnight stays. The facility includes wellness amenities like a sauna, letting guests test the tiny house lifestyle before committing. The Yamabiko proves that innovation in tiny living isn’t about shrinking everything down. Sometimes it’s about reimagining how space can serve multiple lives at once.

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A Living Sphere: Japan’s Self-Contained Food Ecosystem Points to Urban Agriculture’s Future

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Perched at the Osaka Health Pavilion during Expo 2025, a translucent dome hums with life. Inside, tomatoes ripen above brackish water while pufferfish swim below, their waste feeding the plants that clean their home. This is “Inochi no Izumi,” or “Source of Life,” a 21-foot-high sphere that reimagines how cities might feed themselves. The dome’s genius lies in its vertical arrangement. Four water compartments form the base: seawater, brackish water, and two freshwater tanks. Each supports aquatic species matched to its salinity, from marine groupers to freshwater sturgeon. Above each tank rises a corresponding tier of hydroponic crops, creating four parallel ecosystems stacked inside a single structure.

The nutrient cycle starts underwater. Fish excrete ammonia-rich waste that specialized microbes convert into nitrites, then nitrates. Pumps lift this nutrient-loaded water to feed the plants directly overhead. As roots absorb nitrogen compounds, they return purified water to the tanks below. Nothing leaves the system. Nature’s wetland cycling becomes an engine for food production. The broader the range of compatible species, the more resilient and self-sufficient the ecosystem becomes. That diversity mirrors natural systems but remains optimized for human consumption.

Designer: VikingDome, Osaka Metropolitan University’s Plant Factory R&D Center & Tokyo University of Marine Science & Technology

Each layer hosts plants suited to its water source. Salt-tolerant halophytes like sea asparagus and sea purslane grow above the seawater tank housing red seabream and black porgy. Sea grapes flourish in the saltwater itself. Move up a tier, and semi-tolerant tomatoes thrive on brackish water where Japanese pufferfish and ornamental carp glide. The freshwater zones support functional vegetables—nutrient-dense herbs and lettuces—while edible flowers, including nasturtium and marigold crown the top tier, their beds rotating via built-in motors to optimize light exposure.

The dome’s outer skin consists of transparent ETFE panels stretched across 245 steel structural bars connected by 76 joints. This geodesic framework, built using VikingDome’s T-STAR system, covers 1,378 square feet while weighing just over two tons. The entire structure arrived at Yumeshima Island on three pallets. Its design maximizes sunlight penetration while maintaining stable internal temperatures, creating a microclimate where multiple growing zones coexist.

Developed with Osaka Metropolitan University’s Plant Factory R&D Center and Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, this system demonstrates agricultural biodiversity at work. The practical applications extend beyond exhibition. Dense urban centers with limited ground space could host these modular systems on rooftops or in narrow lots. Land-poor regions where traditional farming struggles could gain food independence. Disaster-prone areas might deploy closed-loop domes for decentralized production unaffected by soil contamination or water scarcity.

What makes Source of Life compelling isn’t revolutionary technology. The core principle—aquaponics—has existed for decades. Rather, it’s the elegant integration of ecological understanding with space-efficient design. Commercial agriculture often chases yield through inputs: fertilizers, pesticides, energy. This dome inverts that logic, asking what happens when we design with nature’s cycles instead of against them. As cities grow and climate pressures mount, feeding urban populations sustainably demands fresh thinking. This geodesic greenhouse suggests one path forward: upward, inward, and circular.

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Hand-Stitched $2,300 Sneakers With Only 2 Pairs in the World

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Let’s talk about what happens when ancient Japanese craftsmanship collides with one of the most elusive sneakers in the game. The result? A pair of shoes that costs more than most people’s monthly rent, and somehow, that price tag makes total sense.

New Balance Japan just announced a collaboration with Sashiko Gals that’s turning heads for all the right reasons. They’ve taken the legendary 1300JP and transformed it into something that exists somewhere between footwear and functional art. And before you dismiss this as another overpriced sneaker collab, hear me out, because this one’s different.

Designers: Sashiko Gals and New Balance

For those not deep in sneaker lore, the New Balance 1300JP is basically the Bigfoot of running shoes. Originally released in the 1980s, it only drops once every five years in Japan, making it the kind of shoe that serious collectors set calendar reminders for. It’s got that classic grey suede aesthetic and Made in USA quality that sneakerheads obsess over.

Enter Sashiko Gals, a community of Japanese artisans who are keeping the centuries-old tradition of sashiko embroidery alive by dragging it, stitch by careful stitch, into contemporary culture. Sashiko is that traditional Japanese hand-stitching technique where artisans use running stitches to create intricate patterns on fabric, typically indigo-dyed. It’s slow work. Meticulous work. The kind of craft that makes you appreciate the human hands behind every detail.

What these artisans did to the 1300JP is nothing short of remarkable. They covered the entire upper with hand-made sashiko patches, stitching them with white, orange, and indigo-blue thread. The decorative patterns create this visually rich tapestry that screams Japanese heritage while somehow still respecting the sneaker’s classic silhouette. And because these artisans apparently don’t believe in half-measures, they even stitched the running patterns onto the ends of the laces. Every. Single. Detail. Matters. The collaboration also includes a Made in USA varsity jacket that gets the same treatment, blending American sports heritage with Japanese craftsmanship in a way that shouldn’t work but absolutely does.

Now, about that price tag. The sneakers clock in at 363,000 yen, which translates to roughly $2,330 USD. The jackets? Try 990,000 yen, or about $6,300 USD. Yeah, you read that right. These numbers are stratospheric. But here’s where things get interesting. New Balance and Sashiko Gals are only making two pairs of the 1300JP and four jackets (one in each size from small to extra-large). They’ll drop via a charity-based lottery at the New Balance Harajuku flagship on December 12th, and here’s the kicker: every single yen from the sales goes to MOONSHOT Co., LTD., an organization dedicated to developing future sashiko artisans and funding the launch of something called the SASHIKO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP.

This is what makes this collaboration actually matter. It’s not just two brands cashing in on hype. It’s a genuine effort to preserve and promote a traditional art form that’s at risk of fading away in our mass-production world. The Sashiko Gals are literally expanding the possibilities of their craft, proving that ancient techniques can still resonate in our modern, sneaker-obsessed culture. The “Crafted for the Future” partnership name suddenly makes sense. This isn’t about churning out product. It’s about creating a sustainable model where traditional craftsmanship can thrive, where artisans have platforms to showcase their work, where slow fashion and meticulous detail aren’t just marketing buzzwords but actual values worth paying for.

Will most of us ever own these sneakers? Probably not. Only two pairs exist, and the lottery system means even having the money isn’t enough. But that’s kind of the point. This collaboration is proving that sneakers can be more than just footwear or even fashion. They can be vessels for cultural preservation, fundraising tools, and tiny rebellions against our disposable culture. We’re living in an age where fast fashion dominates and sneaker collaborations drop every other week so the Sashiko Gals x New Balance 1300JP stands out by doing the exact opposite. It’s slow. It’s expensive. It’s impossibly rare. And somehow, that makes it one of the most exciting sneaker releases of the year.

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Minimal Home In Tokyo Features Wooden Louvers To Deliver Privacy & An Organic Ambiance To Its Residents

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Japanese architect Keiji Ashizawa designed the love concrete home the ‘House in Aoyama’. The house features louvers inspired by the louvers on the townhouses in Kyoto. These louvres were incorporated to create a sense of privacy in the home. As its name suggests, the house is located in the central Aoyama area and is built for a family with a child and two dogs. Since the home is located at a busy intersection, it was constructed to offer maximum privacy to the residents, and hence concrete was selected as the material of choice

“We had to choose a material resilient to acoustic disruption and vibration for the urban context,” said studio founder Keiji Ashizawa “Considering the need for a basement, rooftop, and balcony, we picked concrete as the best fit.”

Designer: Keiji Ashizawa

The entrance of the home is covered by tall wooden louvers, which shade it and offer privacy. The home is shielded from the neighbors and other passerby. A tropical hardwood was used to construct the louvers. Itauba wood was selected, to create a sleek, slender, and stylish look. Itauba is also known for its water resistance, and strength, making it a good fit for the louvers.

“Louvres create subtle seclusion within the urban setting with a soft ambiance, often seen in traditional townhouses in Kyoto,” Ashizawa said. “They serve both as a privacy screen and light filter.”

As you enter the home, you notice the exposed concrete structure, which is amped with a bunch of different finishes – ribbed ceilings, and washed and blasted walls. The concrete beautifully contrasts with the insulated exterior. The various finishes in the home create an interesting palette, with the ribbed textures delivering acoustic enhancement in the living room. The first and third floors include the bedroom, while the living and dining rooms are placed on the second floor. The different stories are connected via a winding wooden staircase, which perfectly pairs up with the wooden furniture to create an organic and warm ambience.

The home also includes space for the clients’ art collection, perfectly placed against neutral walls. It also features a skylight to offer access to natural light throughout the day, softly illuminating the home.

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MAD Connects A Massive Ephemeral Bubble To A Historic Japanese House

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Acclaimed architecture studio MAD recently designed the Ephemeral Bubble – an installation that looks like a bubble being blown by a century-old wooden house! It is designed for the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale in Japan. Tucked away in the Murono Village in the Japanese countryside, the bubble is made using a PVC membrane, and is a component of the old house called China House Huayuan. The home is utilized to display Chinese art and culture.

Designer: MAD

The Ephemeral Bubble for the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale was designed to open “a dialogue with the ancient Japanese countryside”, the studio said. “This design adds a temporary, flexible space that mimics the lightness and translucence of breathing air,” they added. The large bubble is connected to the home, and it rises and expands creating a space that can be utilized for performances or ceremonies. It features a “biomorphic” design which is inspired by nature. The installation also intends to encourage spiritual exploration.

“This concept of bubbles also introduces a playful and interactive space, making the experiential installation ideal for emotive and spiritual exploration,” MAD said. “This approach emphasizes the importance of engagement in design.”

During the evenings, the inside of the bubble lights up forming a mesmerizing lantern-like effect. Visitors can look out through the blurred walls, although the colors and shapes of the outside world are hardly visible. This creates the ambiance of “soft light”. The installation also helped to upgrade the historic wooden house. It was designed in such an interesting manner that it looks as if the house created itself.

“Picture our century-old house drifting off to sleep, gently blowing bubbles as it dreams,” said architect Ma Yansong. “This fusion of virtual and tangible elements, combining the old and the new, brings new life into the ancient building,” MAD concluded.

The post MAD Connects A Massive Ephemeral Bubble To A Historic Japanese House first appeared on Yanko Design.

Crayons from Japan’s recycled trees highlights the country’s forests

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When you think of wood, the color that immediately comes to mind is brown since that’s what most of us have seen in the trees near our abodes or even when we travel. But it’s not the only color that we can extract from it, specifically from various species of forest trees. With 2//3 of Japan covered with trees and a lot of these forests remaining unharvested and unmaintained, it’s interesting to see what sustainable products can be made out of these trees.

Designer Name: Playfool

Forest Crayons is a project that uses the pigments extracted from various recycled forest trees and mixes them with other sustainable ingredients to turn them into crayons. Each one has a different shade that is based on the species of the recycled tree as well as how it was cultivated and grown. For example, you get a light green color for magnolia and a deep turquoise of fungus stained wood.

The pigments extracted are mixed with wood, rice wax, and rice oil to produce the different crayons. There are ten crayons available in the Forest Crayons set: Bayberry, Bogwood, Cedar, Chinaberry, Cybress, Hazenoki, Katsura, Kaizuka, Magnolia, and Zelkova. Some names should be familiar to most people but there are species that are native to Japan and some that have Japanese names.

Forest Crayons are actually supported by the Japanese Forest Agency and aside from producing these from recycled trees, they also want to “breathe new life into Japanese wood” so that people will have a new appreciation for the country’s forests. I would prefer the triangular shape of the crayons shown in the product shots but it makes sense of course to have them in the traditional crayon shape for functional reasons.

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Top 10 Japan-Inspired LEGO Builds For Those LEGO Fanatics Who Also Love Some Sushi & Cherry Blossom

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Japanese culture and history have always been a source of inspiration for the entire design world. We see Japan-inspired designs in almost every aspect of our lives, so why not in the world of LEGO?! Japanese culture has managed to inspire many talented LEGO builders around the world, resulting in beautiful creations that perfectly capture the essence and spirit of Japan. From a bowl of steaming hot ramen to the traditional Shogun Armour, LEGO master builders have managed to capture them all in the form of exquisite and intricately built LEGO constructions. Dive in!

1. LEGO Ramen Bowl

Micdud’s LEGO Ramen Bowl is made using LEGO bricks and it looks super realistic! “The model was designed, as a fully customizable construction, thanks to a wide selection of ingredients,” says LEGO builder Micdud. The ramen bowl includes a “bamboo” roll-out pad, a stunning “ceramic” bowl made with intricate details, as well as chopsticks that are hidden in a decorated “paper” wrapping. It also includes a special chirirenge spoon!

2. LEGO Cherry Blossom

These lovely LEGO Cherry Blossoms are designed to get you ready for Spring! The LEGO build features two buildable cherry blossom twigs that can you mix and match to create some pretty white and pink blooms. You need to build the flowers with the 438 pieces that come with the set, to build two twigs that measure up to 14 inches.

3. The Great Wave of Kanagawa

The Great Wave of Kanagawa is one of the most iconic paintings in the art world. It is a lovely and significant hallmark of Japan’s Ukioy-e art movement, and LEGO Art’s interpretation of it includes plastic blocks and a brick count of 1810 pieces. The build also includes a special brick that holds artist Hokusai’s signature! It makes use of multiple dot-shaped bricks that give the painting a pointillism effect.

4. LEGO Sushi Board

If you’re a sushi lover, then this LEGO Sushi Board is a dream come true for you! Made using 1348 pieces, this sushi board is accompanied by matching chopsticks, 6 types of sushi, ginger, wasabi, as well as a matching bowl of soy sauce. The objects aren’t attached to the board, and they can be moved around and arranged, creating an interactive and adorable sushi experience. The sushi includes – one regular and one vegetarian maki roll, a regular uramaki roll, a shrimp nigiri, a salmon nigiri, and an egg nigiri!

5. LEGO Toyota GR Supra

To celebrate the iconic Toyota GR Supra’s 35th anniversary a few years ago, LEGO Japan, LEGOLAND Japan, and Toyota Gazoo Racing created a life-size replica of the sports car. The LEGO version was wider than the original automotive and weighed more as well – almost 4156 pounds. The car was almost entirely made of LEGO bricks, which was truly a commendable and impressive sight, whether you’re a LEGO fan or not!

6. LEGO Girls In Kimonos

Inspired by a summer trip to Japan, LEGO builder The DriXx built two girls in kimonos and traditional Japanese accessories using LEGO bricks! One of the kimonos was embossed with cherry blossoms, while the other one was inspired by cranes and flowers. He wanted to capture the sight of people wearing yukatas or summer kimonos during the summer festival, with everyone walking around cheerfully. He used flower pieces and rounded tiles for the intricate and beautiful patterning of the kimonos.

7. LEGO Eventide

This 2486-piece LEGO mosaic signifies eventide- 宵 (you), which is a Kanji character symbolic of the hours of the evening until midnight. The character also represents the eve of an event, particularly festivals. The LEGO build was created to celebrate the many flower festivals that are held in Japan, and the beautiful flower motif blossoming from the setting sun is meant to signify the growing excitement and merriment on the eve of festivals.

8. LEGO Japanese Koi Fish Pond

LEGO builder ToboPro created a LEGO koi fish pond with koi that swims around if you rotate the handle. Koi fish have a lot of significant value and meaning in Japanese culture. They represent perseverance, luck, love, and prosperity, and ToboPro wanted to translate these meaningful concepts into a tangible build made using 1970 pieces. The pond is decorated with bamboo and other greenery.

9. LEGO Shogun Armour

This beautiful ornate shogun design by Mohamed Marei artfully uses a balance of LEGO Technic and System parts. Each LEGO piece has been chosen to beautifully replicate the plated nature of the ancient Japanese armor, creating a design that is divine looking. Mohamed used all types of gold 1×1 round plates in this build. Tread pieces were also used around the arms above the elbow and at the base of the warrior’s kusazuri.

10. LEGO Soba Noodle Bowl

Build by LEGO builder John Snyder this bowl of soba noodles looks so yummy and appealing, it almost looks real! John wanted to build radish slices, and slowly and steadily he created a whole bowl of noodles. He inserted bicycle wheels into inverted radar dishes to create the radish slices. The chopsticks are made from LEGO as well, and the color balancing is perfect, really making the entire dish stand out.

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This Adaptable Studio Apartment In Japan Is Designed As “One Big Room” For Living & Working

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Dubbed the Building Frame of the House, this home in Tokyo is a unique adaptable space for both living and working. It features stepped living areas framed by boardmarked concrete walls. It is designed by IGArchitects to function as “one big room”.

“[The clients] have a vague boundary between their private and work life, they were imagining a house where they can work anywhere and where they can sense the presence of each other wherever in the house,” said founder Masato Igarashi. “With such lifestyle, rather than have small spaces for compact living, the house was designed to have a large volume and scale that makes various interactions between inside and outside space,” he added.

Designer: IGArchitects

The home’s central space is designed to be as open as possible, with the studio organizing the home’s floors as irregularly stepped mezzanine layers. The various floors are connected via a black-metal staircase and a ladder. At the rear of the home, there is a ground-floor kitchen and first-floor bathroom. The bedrooms and the living spaces are located at the front. A massive bookcase is nestled against the southern wall.

The side walls of the home have been left quite blank, with sections of full-height glazing located at the front of the home, which offer a generous amount of natural light. “The floors are divided to make it difficult to see the interior from the outside, which is treated like a wall,” said Igarashi. “The way the space is used overlaps, responding to the residents’ lifestyle,” he continued. “The floors can turn into a seat, table, shelf, ceiling, or bed.”

The boardmarked concrete structures within the home are exposed, which are teamed up with wooden floors and shelving, and metal countertops in the kitchen, creating an interesting contrast. “We selected materials that would develop their own flavor as they age, and we wanted to bring out the texture and strength of the materials and their shades in the space,” said Igarashi. “Since the site is too small to create a garden, the interior and exterior are treated equally, and the materials are unified inside and out.”

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