A few months after I arrived in Japan I noticed just how important space was in Tokyo. Beyond the obvious limitations afforded by a capital city with an extremely dense population, I started to notice how the management of space was also central to how a lot of things are done in this town - not just flats and habitations.
The impact of space, or lack of it, on how people live is the most obvious aspect of this, evident to anyone who comes here and spends a small amount of time looking at how and where people live. Coming from London, one of the things I’ve missed the most in my time living in Tokyo is house parties. Simply put they rarely happen in Tokyo, and when they do they’re not on the scale they are back in Europe. Instead people go out and party in an izakaya, a club or a karaoke booth. It’s fun but after a while it’s just not the same as a good old house party.
In a city where every bit of land is seemingly up for grabs, where doors appear in the most unimaginable locations and shops and entertainment are all located upwards of the street level, the limitations of space also impact the inside of flats, houses and public spaces. In terms of flats, and smaller offices, you end up realising soon enough that while space seems to be lacking there is always a way to make things fit. And the Japanese have developed a knack, and countless products, to help make the management of space inside cramped spaces as easy as possible.
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