Here's an interesting review of a book called "The Very Small Home," all about how the Japanese maximize space in the sometimes miniscule confines of their apartments. Since I'm currently living in a small studio in the West End (though nowhere near as tiny as a higher-end Japanese apartment, as I saw on my last trip to Tokyo in 2003), I'm pretty interested in finding ways to make my tiny living pod ever more livable.
Yeah, I would have killed for a place the size of yours in Yokohama... we were in a 14x7 foot shoebox with a loft (which should have been where the bed was, but the bed frame didn't fit up there, so it turned into luggage storage).
Having said that, when I eventually buy a place, I'm not looking for much space... just enough for everyone in the family to have a bedroom and a little private area to work in. I think huge houses are a stupid waste of space, even in a country like Canada.
I agree. The Japanese haven't got much choice but to go to extremes, but here in North America we go nuts in the opposite direction. I was talking to one of my friends in Edmonton the other day, and she pointed out that the Edmonton dream isn't to live in the heart of everything (as, I would aregue, it is for some in Vancouver), but to have a really big truck and live in the biggest and furthest out subdivision possible, preferably with a South Edmonton Common sized behemoth of a shopping megaplex to service your every consumer whim.
Speak for yourself, I'll take a 13,000 square foot mansion complete with a grotto, game room, media room, kitchen, pizza oven, and post office over a 300 square foot closet where I can touch my fridge and Toilet at the same time any day.
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