Why? Even though Tokyo’s land prices are among the most expensive in the world, Tokyo has one of the fastest growing populations in the country. People want to live close to the amenities of city life and to the excellent school systems available in Tokyo. They also do not want to deal with long train commutes into Tokyo from far-off suburbs.
Shigeru Kimura, a Tokyo real estate agent who specializes in tiny homes, says, “Recently, more people, especially in their 30s and early 40s, want to live in central Tokyo. And more people are thinking of how to live on a small plot of land”. Architect Satoshi Kurosaki builds sleek, tiny, modern homes that answer this need. Kurosaki recalls that the first compact home he built was on a 249-square-foot (23-square-meters) site. It was basically a large parking space in central Tokyo that a 27-year-old woman had inherited, and wanted to live on. Kurosaki somehow managed to design and fit a five-story home on the site.