Japanese houses come in all shapes and sizes, but privacy is always a big concern. Here are 10 that offer their residents complete seclusion, from an angular concrete bunker to a seemingly windowless box. More
Wood knotholes are typically a sign of poverty in Japanese architecture, but ICADA has used them to create a unique lighting effect in Knothole House. More
Plant-lined balconies and a grid-like facade wrap around the glass Kojimachi Terrace office in Tokyo, which Nendo has designed "to bring the outside in". More
Architect Takeshi Hosaka has built himself a micro home in Tokyo that has a total floor area of just 19 square metres and features a pair of curved roofs. More
A geometric pattern of square-shaped rooms connected by rhombus-shaped circulation areas forms House in Hokusetsu, Osaka, by Japanese firm Tato Architects. More
Shoraku-Ji is a Buddhist temple next to a cemetery in northeast Tokyo by Toru Kashihara Architects with a stepped concrete design that aims to subvert traditional temple architecture. More
Takashi Yamaguchi & Associates has completed Topological Folding House, a home formed of a continuous white strip that wraps around to form floors, ceilings and balconies. More
Japanese studio FujiwaraMuro Architects designed House in Toyonaka, Osaka, as a series of offset boxes with gaps between them that allow light and air to enter the house, while maintaining the occupants' privacy. More
We've updated our Pinterest board dedicated to the best Japanese houses, including a home on Okinawa Island with a metal-mesh canopy covered in plants and a house made up of spiralling platforms. Follow Dezeen on Pinterest ›
Japanese studio Tato Architects has built a house in the town of Sonobe, Japan, with a sunroom that can be opened up to the garden by sliding open a huge corrugated polycarbonate wall. More
Foster + Partners has completed the first Apple Store in Kyoto, Japan, which has a translucent facade informed by the materiality of traditional Japanese houses and lanterns. More
A windowless wall punctured by a giant void projects from this steel-clad Japanese house near Tokyo, creating a secret "exterior living room". More
Architecture studio Snark has completed a house in Maebashi, Japan, incorporating a solarium that the owner uses to grow plants. More
A modernist hotel that featured in 1960s James Bond film You Only live Twice is being rebuilt to be more earthquake-proof, reopening in Tokyo next year. More
Schemata Architects, headed by Jo Nagasaka, has converted a traditional house in Kamakura, Japan, into an office featuring modern fitted furniture. More
Japanese architecture studio Hibinosekkei incorporated structures intended to encourage play into the interior design of this Tokyo support centre for children with developmental difficulties. More
Japanese studio Akihisa Hirata Architecture Office has completed a mixed-use building in Tokyo featuring a jumbled composition of concrete rooms that create spaces for small balconies and gardens. More
Large openings in the corrugated-metal facades of this boxy building in Shizuoka, Japan, frame views of the neighbourhood from a shop on the ground floor and residence above. More
For this lakeside house in Japan, Tokyo-based studio Sugawaradaisuke used five interlocking levels to create multiple viewing platforms both inside and outside the property. More
Japanese practice Hibinosekkei has completed a nursery in Yokohama, which features plywood-lined interiors and house-shaped openings set into its dark facades. More