TOKYO STYLE

Do you believe that there are some styles, habits and mannerisms of interiors that are inherent in certain cultures? For two years, I've been living in Japan, a country which I've been passionate about not only for their culture but also for their style of living and design. I got to get a look inside many people's homes as well as live in three different homes myself in the two year period and it was even better to experience it in real life. I loved Japanese style. It was cramped, it was compact, it was tiny but it had so much personality and it spoke depths about their values on space and homely maintenance.

These scans are from one of my favourite books ever called, "Tokyo Style" ( More info about the publisher in the " Furniture Books " tab on the left ) It was printed in the 90's and is basically a photo book full of pictures of people's homes in Tokyo. It was the perfect memento to take home from two years of living there. What I've noticed about Japanese homes is one of two things. Either, it's very 'hoarders' or everything has its place. What I love about the Japanese philosophy of living is that it's more deliberate than the Western style and the conservation of space feeds a lot into the deliberateness.

Living in Japan taught me a lot about the usage of space. I had a futon when I lived there which I routinely put away every morning after usage. Because of the lack of space, you were forced to do two very good things. To clean up quickly after yourself ( because mess just gathers twice as fast in small spaces ) and to always ask yourself whether you needed to buy something. Initially, I was worried about the small spaces before I moved there from Australia. But after returning, I have to say that I actually prefer small spaces to large ones now for living. People often use the word 'cozy' as a polite way to say small and cramped. But to me, coziness is essential for a good space.

It's just my personal taste but Japanese homes just have a very cool look about them. Even more so if we're talking about the old school tatami matted, wooden house type. There's a natural spartan energy in traditional Japanese homes and I also associate lots of white, natural light as well. Another thing which I quickly became used to and enjoyed was sitting on the floor as well as having low tables where you would both eat and work off.

Japanese style is inherently elegant to me. Yes, it seems like the opposite of that in some of these scans here but it really is. Their attention to detail, packaging and foresight into not only design but also the experiences of interacting with space reflects their core values of hospitality and good manners.