Living in a Japanese House, a Phaidon book of 35 contemporary homes

Plenty of us have pictured ourselves living in a Japanese house. A new Phaidon book by Kanae Hasegawa, a Japanese writer and Wallpaper* contributor, lets you look inside 35 of them. It covers how each home came about and who designed it, not just how it looks.

The selection mixes well-known names with lesser-known practices. Hiroshi Nakamura, Ryue Nishizawa and nendo all appear. The houses sit in city, suburban and rural settings. Among those mentioned are Tamada + Wakimoto Architects' Roof House in Tochigi (2023) and Akihisa Hirata's Tree-ness House in Tokyo (2017). There is also Tato Architects' House in Miyamoto in Kishiwada, Osaka (2017), and Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP's House of the Sacred Rock. Wallpaper* describes the result as a visual feast of interiors and exteriors. The houses face real constraints, and the book shows the bold ways their architects answered them.

What sets the book apart is Hasegawa's text. It gathers thoughts from the architects and also from the people who live in the houses. That gives a fuller sense of what everyday life in these homes is like today.

These are private homes, so this is one for the bookshelf rather than the itinerary. It suits anyone drawn to small, inventive houses or planning to look at architecture in Japan.

Our summary of a story from Wallpaper*, published 10 October 2026. Read the original

Photos: Wallpaper* · See all 8