In this week's comments update, readers are discussing Yano Aoyama Architecture Design's public toilet for the Tobe Zoological Park in Ehime Prefecture, Japan. More about "Japan takes this seriously" says commenter
Japanese vending machine manufacturer SDRS has developed a human-sized, stainless-steel fridge to stave off heatstroke amid the increasingly sweltering summers brought on by climate change. More about "Human refrigerator" provides escape from deadly heatwaves
Japanese practice Yano Aoyama Architecture Design has completed a public toilet for the Tobe Zoological Park in Ehime Prefecture, creating two chiselled concrete blocks that are topped by a thin roof of naturally curved cedar. More about Yano Aoyama Architecture Design tops public toilet in Japan with sweeping timber canopy
Local architecture studio HYAN has renovated Green Sandwich House, a 1970s home in Japan, using a palette of timber, plaster and tiles to bring "warmth and texture" to a flexible, open living space. More about HYAN renovates 70s home in Japan around "single, continuous" living space
Architect Kenta Hirayama has designed an "unpretentious house" in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward, which features a metal facade and deliberately simple gabled roof. More about Kenta Hirayama clads House in Kinuta in steel-sheet facade
Japanese studio Kenta Sano & Associates has completed a four-storey building in Tokyo that that has a glass-fronted dance studio on its lower floors and a house on top. More about Tokyo Ballet House combines ballet studio and home
Designer Keiji Ashizawa has turned a former hostel in Shintomicho, Tokyo, into Tomi Ginza, a boutique hotel with a single suite on each of its floors that was designed to fulfil a need for group accommodation in the city. More about Eight-room Tokyo hotel designed to feel like staying "at the home of a tasteful friend"
Design studio Nendo's founder Oki Sato has announced that he will hand over leadership of the company to managing director Akihiro Ito, while the role of chief designer "will be entrusted to talented young designers". More about Oki Sato steps down from Nendo leadership role
In this roundup, author Ari Seligmann spotlights 11 iconic houses in Japan captured by some of the country's leading photographers, who are the focus of his latest book, Ka Me Ra. More about Eleven iconic Japanese houses seen "through the photographer's lens"
The annual Osaka Art and Design event returns for its fourth edition with creative displays at venues around Osaka. Here, we round up seven designs and installations not to miss. More about Seven highlights from Osaka Art and Design 2026
An austere exterior of stacked concrete volumes conceals a double-height courtyard and plant-filled terrace at the heart of this home in Tokyo, designed by local studio Apollo Architects & Associates. More about Apollo Architects & Associates prioritises "security and privacy" for Tokyo home
Architect Sou Fujimoto has unveiled a Dior store in Osaka, Japan, featuring an undulating facade that envelops an interior by architect Peter Marino. More about Sou Fujimoto designs ribbed facade for House of Dior Shinsaibashi to evoke "flowing drapery"
Local architecture studio YNAS has renovated and extended a traditional timber home in southern Japan, opening up its interiors and improving its connection to the surroundings with corrugated-metal canopies. More about YNAS uses timber-framed canopies to reconnect Japanese home with the outdoors
Architecture studio Kuma&Elsa has renovated the top two floors of an apartment block in Japan, creating enclosures that aim to re-create the spatial conditions of a traditional Japanese engawa. More about Kuma&Elsa arranges Japanese apartments around translucent "huts"
Japanese studio Atelier Write has transformed a warehouse in Tokyo into a hair salon, suspending mirrors, shelves and curtains from a series of industrial rails that allow the entire space to be reconfigured. More about Atelier Write converts Tokyo warehouse into reconfigurable hair salon
Japanese studio Keiji Ashizawa Design has created the Toune holiday home in a 120-year-old machiya, preserving its original layout and the "sense of time embedded within the building" while giving it a contemporary update. More about Keiji Ashizawa creates holiday home within historic machiya
Continuing our parametricism series, we look at the futuristic Yokohama International Port Terminal designed by Foreign Office Architects, which was one of the first high-profile parametric buildings. More about Yokohama International Port Terminal "first major" parametric building
The unique "rhythm and progression" of Japanese machiya townhouses helped Brewin Design Office devise the interiors of this hotel in Kyoto designed by Kengo Kuma. More about Traditional wooden townhouses inform interiors of Kengo Kuma-designed Capella Kyoto hotel
This week on Dezeen, Danish studio BIG unveiled three rammed-earth villas on the remote island of Sagishima, which marks the studio's first project in Japan. More about This week BIG revealed a trio of luxury rammed-earth villas in Japan
Clerestory windows and a curved ceiling create shifting patterns of light and shadow through this timber-lined home near Tokyo, designed by local studio HYG Architects. More about HYG Architects designs Japanese home as "spatial continuum" of its surroundings