10 of Japan's most cleverly designed homes

From an ingenious home with guest annexe attached, to a micro house in Tokyo that opens like a shell, and a home for both cats and humans – here are 10 innovative Japanese dwellings.

The most inventive homes in Japan are modest in scale, but ambitious in what they aim to do. Architects there are offering "the most precise and inventive thinking about living now," according to François-Luc Giraldeau, editor of the book A House in Japan: Lessons in Living.

"That matters today because much of the world is facing the same questions Japan has been dealing with for decades," he tells the BBC. "How to live well with less space, fewer resources and greater environmental pressure."

And there is a deceptive simplicity about the best Japanese dwellings. "What looks minimal is usually the result of exacting decisions about proportion, material, light and joinery – there's an enormous amount of craft beneath what appears effortless. Good design isn't about having more; it's about making what exists work harder." Here is our pick of 10 Japanese homes that reflect these skills and create solutions.

1. Love2 House, Tokyo

"How much space does one truly need to live well?" asks architect Takeshi Hosaka of his practice and home, a compact nest with a footprint no larger than 10 sq m (108 sq ft) in Tokyo. This tiny site becomes the creative impetus for a home containing all the essentials: bathing, music, food, study and reflection. The house is defined by tall twin curved concrete shells that open to the sky, letting winter light flood in. Inside every surface has a purpose, with shelves carved into walls and counters extending outward. For Hosaka and his wife, their home encompasses "the infiniteness of small things".

2. Building Frame House, Tokyo

Open plan takes on a whole new meaning in this design – inside, the living space is entirely open from top to bottom. IGArchitects removed the whole concept of walls in favour of floating floors as building blocks that separate living areas. The couple who live here "have learnt its rhythm," Giraldeau tells the BBC. "With horizontal space so scarce, architects have no choice but to think in section, not just in plan, to invent new forms of domestic movement." Recalling the work of artist MC Escher, the floor plates sit at differing heights and depths, hovering and interlocking throughout, acting as dividers, storage and space. Floor-to-ceiling windows let light flow in, while subtle screening affords privacy to the bathroom and bedroom.

3. Tiny Home is Tall, Tokyo

"Sufficiency can be designed with dignity" Giraldeau says. "It essentially asks: how much space do we need to live well?" In the West, bigger is often considered better, but in Japan, design seeks out ways of living well with less – and on this corner plot of just 30 sq m (323 sq ft), architects........

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