HOUSING

NY Times - With some of the most densely populated cities in the world, the Japanese are old hands at living in close quarters. From the spread of nagaya tenements and machiya townhouses in the Edo period (1603-1867) to postwar “barrack” tenements, danchi apartment complexes and capsule hotels, Japan has long used innovative designs and multipurpose rooms to make the most of limited space on its archipelago.

Tiny houses can be a more individualistic spin on this tradition. These days, they’re also a response to economic and social changes. With its low birthrate and shrinking population, Japan doesn’t need as many homes to fit large families. One result has been more subdivisions of larger lots to expand the market of affordable homes. Some younger workers in Tokyo are snapping up tiny houses because they don’t want to spend hours each day commuting from cheaper cities outside the capital.

The trend has become so pervasive that some wards in Japan have restricted subdivisions out of fear that too many tiny houses pose a risk of fires and other disasters.

“Tiny houses continue to proliferate in Japan due to real estate economics, social change and, frankly, their appeal,” said Naomi Pollock, an architect and author of “The Japanese House Since 1945.” “Exorbitant inheritance taxes can make it hard to hold onto property when it passes from one generation to the next. Instead of selling the whole lot, a slice is carved off, sold and the proceeds used to pay the tax.”

While there’s no standard definition, tiny homes in Japan often sit on lots of no more than 50 square meters (or 538 square feet). Some are tall and thin, barely wider than a common family car. Many are built on oddly shaped lots — the leftovers of disaster, war or subdivisions of the past