Across the world, Japan is famous for its down-sized architecture. So, what happens when Japanese design meets the tiny house movement? Today, I've traveled to Kumano, Japan to find out. Hi Rumi! Hi Bryce, welcome to our home. [Bryce] Thank you [Bryce] Hey Katrina, how are you? Good! It's nice to meet you I have to say, this is quite possibly one of the tiniest tiny houses I have visited so far. and it makes sence being here in Japan, doesn't it? So what's this actually made from? What's the material on the outside, because this wood looks beautiful. [Rumi] Since I didn't make this one, don't quote me on this one, but I believe its locally grown cedar. [Bryce] oh, gorgeous. [Rumi] aged by the craftsman who built this. [Bryce] And the roofing material actually looks really unusual as well. It's not so often that I can just reach up and touch the roof of a home. but, yeah, this looks really unusual, what is this? [Rumi] uh, Tagami, who built this one, I remember him using... [Rumi] This is, uh, made for truck. Like a cargo truck, to cover material [Katrina] so it's very waterproof. [Rumi] yeah, durable [Bryce] That actually makes perfect sense, but I've never seen that done before. That's such a clever idea. I love how the roofs are separated apart in two sections as well Does that actually fall down when you travel? it does oh how clever [Bryce] Thank you very much. And this is unusual; is this actually a chimney? It is. Uh, he custom built a fireplace into this so we can climb up top and open that up and can have a nice fire inside when we get in. And I see that this is on a single axle as well, which is quite surprising, because you don't often see single axle tiny houses. How much does this one actually weigh? Well, when you come around here you can see the side. In Japan, it's the maximum weigh is 500 Kg. So with additional, maybe some items in the tiny house, probably roughly around 600 kilograms. So very, very light weight. And that container there, is that where the gray water's going? Mmm, hmm. This one is attaced the the kitchen right there, where the drain goes to the kitchen. Right there, see, where the drain goes straight in. So there's a fresh water supply on board as well, is there? Underneath this bench here, is a 20 liter water pan, and you open this one up and you just put, uh, water. Notice these white windows? Oh, yeah. The windows are lovely. The shelves are strategically placed to really extend the bringing outside. And if you are inside you really feel it. It feels like everything is really an extension. It's really actually wonderful how the builder has done that. You can see all of these shapes and lines on the outside that have been continued, and then mirrored on the inside. And it forms this wonderful kind of dynamic, doesn't it? Yeah. It's beautiful, isn't it? And is there actually more storage built into this part? Yes, there actually is.
Cedar is a great choice, being both naturally rot resistant and one of the lightest woods.
Fascinating! First time I've seen a fireplace in a Tiny House.
Frank Loyde Wright would approve.
I speak Japanese so this is basically one of my retirement goals.
While Japan is rather over-crowded now, it's beginning to empty out
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LFWA25TTJPA647N
Really nice. Most striking is the size of the large windows in this thing, really makes it appear more open.
how lovely
It looks like a fair amount of work to keep it neat and maintain it, but it is easily one of the most beautiful tiny houses I've ever seen.
If that cost $30K to build, I would hate to know what a real house costs to build in Japan.
I just like the raisable roof! Good idea! Specially if u have a loft right below it! Anybody knows the mechanism?