FOR ANYONE WHO MISSED LAST WEEKS VID: "A Night in Japan's OLDEST MAZE" ua-cam.com/video/2IIJPaS84GE/v-deo.html *Anyone else calculate how many of those blinds you would need to close in order to NOT be arrested on that toilet!?* But Could YOU Live Here? TINY APARTMENT PLAYLIST: ua-cam.com/video/y-1Dwhh7dEc/v-deo.html
It is Japan, so none? Japanese memories: Standing at a urinal in an industrial facility doing my thing and the cleaning lady walks up beside me to start cleaning. NBD, because Japan. At a tebasaki restaurant - there is a single toilet for the whole restaurant. Hallway for the toilet (toilet is blocked in a separate room with a door), has both a urinal and a sink. Outer door to the hallway has no lock. Taking a leak in the urinal and another customer walks in... Japan is great for sketchy weirdness.
Nine(9) windows at the "bare" minimum! Fourteen(14) if you insist on using the tub! How in the world did those floor-to-ceiling sliding window panels EVER Pass building codes anyway?
Dude, this is like, insane - the price, the layout, the clear health and safety hazard of the entire place! I think you need to try and get a tour with one of the residents because I REALLY want to know how people live in there!
Nobody sane will rent this it is too expensive for what it is and lacking in facilities. Also seems extremely dangerous if you slip you might fall out of the house. That triangle apartment is much better and at a lower cost too.
Out of all the places you've shown, this one has been the first one to actually set off my instant 'Nope, absolutely not' reaction. Nooooo way this is liveable.
Gotta admit, I loved this apartment lol. I'd add a bit of grating to the barriers so if I dropped anything it wouldn't roll out, but other than that I'd like to live there!
@@Vyselink me too. I live in a house in the states. But as a guy, all i need is a bed(or place to sleep), a toilet and a shower. This place seems cozy. Doesnt bother me at all.
@@AssassinAgentI certainly hope not because that means people will be living in these and I don't like the thought of people living in these conditions
Forget the claustrophobic panic I would feel getting up to that apartment and living in it, I would have nightmares of leaving a window open and falling out of my home and ending up as a pancake on the street. What if you dropped your phone and it just slid out of the side of your home. Oh my God. I don't even know how most of that is legal.
@@AutumnFalls89 I can see myself falling out of the shower and knocking myself out on the glass door or toilet. There I am buck naked, unconscious😵💫 and probably bleeding all over the place. Nightmare!!
I can't imagine how hot it is going to get during the summer in that glass box and creating a draft does not seem like a good idea as whatever you can store there will probably be blown out onto the streets.
God my university had a study area between 2 buildings that had glass like this on all sides. even during winter it was easily 20+ C, in the hottest days of summer you just couldnt be in there. That area of the building did not need any heating.
Why is nobody talking about how the toilet is just hanging out there, what if a friend comes over and needs to shit? Then you got shit smell all over the apartment
Yeah, that'd be a no for me. It's just not usable space. As you say you could fit a futon on the floor on the side with access but where would you store it when it wasn't out ... or anything else ... you haven't even got a fridge, or space to put one. Using the bath or toilet would be a constant fear of someone seeing and, despite the aircon unit, trying to keep it's greenhouse like structure at a comfortable temperature would be a constant fight. Not sure having plugs in the floor next to bath is particularly safe either
i didnt even think about a fridge wow youre right, you would have no way to keep food fresh which is 100% a dealbreaker. if you got the smallest mini fridge possible (that still keeps food at a safe temperature), youd have to put it on the floor and step over it all the time
not to mention: you´ll have to crawl over the toilet to get in and out of the bathtub. you´ll have to be very agile or struggle really hard to not trip and hurt yourself or to not fall out of the window at all.
The idea of front load washer/dryers is that you put the load on, set it to wash & dry, then go to work. It'll be done by the time you get home. The caveat is that you can only do approximately a half load to allow for the laundry to fluff up as it dries. Thank you for attending my TED Talk.
@@winry2357 I guess the feng shui just flows all around in that apartment it's like flowing from the door to every window and and from every window to another... you will be sleeping there in the flow xD
Yea my knees went weak as if I was there myself from that camera angle! 😨 And the railing is just this thin rod, like definitely DO NOT lean on it or even hold it with your hands 😅
The reaction to this apartment is, "Awww hell no!" and even if you had small enough furniture, those stairs aren't wide enough for anything. Thanks Norm, that was a trip
Huge congrats to Ayaka! Can't wait to see her show up again soon (and hopefully more regularly!), she's such a joy to watch and always brings such an amazing perspective, plus you guys bounce off of each other so well! It's so wholesome!
I think this is the first tiny apartment that you showed that I can't imagine living in. Even the one that was just a bed, a toilet and a shower was way better. In that at least you had proper storage room, and it felt somewhat cosy.
This is one of the few times I don’t think I could stay in the apartment. Having to open and close all those blinds would drive me crazy. Not to mention the price.
@@alexven92 i mean just look at his outside footage: that is exactly what the people on lower floors are doing. Everything to the street closed and 1 on the right side open. Other two "walls" open to speculation, probably similar.
I don’t know the average price of tiny apartments in Japan but the price actually seems like the least shocking part to me considering it’s location in the middle of Tokyo.
Biggest dealbreaker is the lack of safety with the windows. If I were gonna have to live here I'd definitely be installing plywoods all around the place. If I'm not allowed to do that then it's a no deal for me.
@@TokyoLens Well, maybe... you said it was popular to look at, but is anyone actually renting it? Or are they just seeing a small apartment in a luxury area, & then saying hell no once they are given the tour? Notably - the thing is obviously empty. It has a waiting list for realtors & renters to come gawk at it, but sounds like nobody is biting because it's useless.
Being able to open those floor to ceiling windows and there only being a bar in place would worry me so much, I would be paranoid about dropping something either directly out the window or it rolling across the floor then dropping out the window 😂. Also appreciate you bringing along the tape measure, helps to give a better sense of scale 😁
Cross ventilation during the summer would be great. Just open two windows on either side and you wouldn't even have to touch the a/c. And I think you could get decent storage with some of those collapsible hanging closet organizers. Those outlets though, feel very unsafe in the event of spills, clogged toilet, or rain water getting in.
All they had to do to fix the layout of this building when constructing it was offset the stairwell to one side instead of in the middle. Also, being on the top floor and having 100% window coverage... It would get so god damn hot during the summer there.
It's an earthquake measure. Putting stairs on one side would increase the likelihood of it falling into your neighbors on the other side and away from the main street making rescue harder. But those windows would probably be a big no during earthquake because you might fall out if you leave the window open.
Basically the walls surrounding the stairs act as a Core for the whole building (Imagine a potato chip skewer with the skewer being the core and the chips being the floors) that's basically how it is. Actually moving the core to a corner would be entirely possible structurally, though you would need another load bearing structure perpendicular to the stairs (maybe an elevator perhaps) to even out the center of mass.
I took a break from all the stressors bouncing around my brain right now and ended up being slightly stressed out by the (irrational or maybe not…) thought that you could go out any one of the windows. Usually, I can find some redeeming quality in tiny spaces, but I found myself screeching in terror half a world away. 😳 Thank you so much for much-needed distraction, and ,on a personal note, for creating a community that steps up and steps in when someone needs them most. Take care!
I actually saw this on Instagram before you posted this video and shared it to my friends. We could not understand it, so this was perfect! Thanks for this!
Claustrophobia in full effect! 😟 The window safety bar....heck no! The blinds would stay shut if I lived there. I imagine it gets pretty cold during the winter too. Thanks for the tour.
If money wasn't an issue, I think it'd be kinda cool to rent two apartments on consecutive floors. The higher floor could be the main living space while the lower floor would fit storage and other amenities. If you're a plant lover, everything could go on the lower floor with curtains always up.
What an uncomfortable and frightening place to live. I thought that while watching a couple of days ago and come back here to report this video gave me a nightmare.
Crazier than the triangle apartment? Just seeing that the apartment is like a big donut around a staircase surrounded by windows... I've got to agree so far!
When I worked for Boeing, my wife and I were set up in a place just like this! Our big mistake as newlyweds was foolishly thinking the glass that surrounded us...was one way glass! About 3 months into our stay we figured out why we so popular when we went outside. Actually, we were told. But ironically thanked😮
I feel like I would live with the windows open constantly to trick myself into thinking I have more space. But I'm also afraid of heights, so it would last maybe five minutes? Either way, the fact I have to close curtains if I want to use the washroom is a deal breaker.
I could see that space being a challenge but also fun! But that's coming from a guy who has no problem camping in his car. Also super happy to hear Okazaki is returning!
Yea… for me is a huge no. As Airbnb yes for 2-3. Nights sure!!! Cool - to live : NEVER! And god I hope no one is so selfish to have pets in there!!! It would be cruel to indoor only pets !!!!
I actually kinda like this :D If it had just a bit more space and privacy for toilet/bathroom then it is actually pretty fun! It has a view and windows unlike many other small apartments.
Excited to see Ayaka again, would love to hear what she thinks of this place if you get a chance. I think for storage I would figure out some sort of rolling cart solution if I had to live there and just shove carts into other parts of the house when I needed to use a space. I would guess you'd need to close at least 9 of the blinds for the toilet to be obscured sufficiently.
I think if it were at least 3 times the size and designed like a luxury penthouse it could be very interesting . It has so much light coming in and great views. You could have glass that blacked-out for bathroom and bedroom areas to give privacy. I like it!
Dude! Thanks for getting up early to show us that gem! I don't know that I could ever live there (no storage!!!! no fridge!!!!), but it's fascinating to see that it has been created, and to hear that people are interested. Probably be great for someone who's living the simplest life possible (few possessions, buying meals daily). Keep up the good work!
Love the minimalist style tiny house! I like how they try to make everything simple such as hiding the outlets in the floor and the bathroom door is glass and only halfway to the floor. Just imagining how to make this house to my own space is already fun!
I can imagine opening some blinds but not all of em, it could also help divide the different areas of the apartment, like having the toilet and kitchen area with the blinds shut, with the entrance/bedroom area with the blinds open.
I am so glad we got rid of cable t.v.,this is far more entertaining! Thanks, I love Japan but that apartment is on a whole new level of micro.💕✌️The bed would have to be a roll away futon the size of a sleeping bag, and clothes,food stuff,supplies would hsve to be stored in stackable containers I would guess?
This feels less like an apartment, and more a place to hang out. The utilities (washer, shower, kitchen) seem quite the afterthought and things you would rarely use here. Like, I could see this being a nice place to drink and watch a movie with friends.
I enjoy all the video's you have been uploading but I think this has been my favorite series since you started doing it. Keep on finding more crazy and tiny apartments. Video's are awesome as always.
How did that building pass safety standards!?!? That's dangerous as Hell! One slip and you could literally roll out of your apartment and plummet several feet to your demise.
Ok. The main hall would get a 12 inch deep floor to ceiling built in cabnets and shelves. complete with horizontal twin size Murphy bed. This will give some storage. A triangular desk in the corner leads to the kitchen. To work from or put a small tv on. That way you can watch from the kitchen or Murphy bed. Add shelves to the kitchen nook and slide out slab table right above the washer. That way you have extra kitchen space or a spot for doing clothes. The guest room?... add some very high cabnets like at the 6.5 mark. (I'm hoping these are at least 8ft ceilings) for more storage. Sorry tall people Some lights underneath them and some small funiture that will double as a stool. Everything extra has to hang on suction cup hooks.😅 that's best I could think of.
Cliff from Dear Modern actually came up with a good layout for this crazy apartment. However, this place feels very ... unsafe? I would have a hard time trusting those sockets, especially the one next to the bathtub!
I'd have a custom loft bed with enough room on the edge so I could walk through the corridor without ducking down. You have to think vertically with this place and probably a lot of custom furniture. Thin but long wardrobes that could maybe double as a wall to block the windows. Maybe if the landlord allows it, a folding table connected to the side of the wall that can fold out when needed. Lots of hooks and depending on what the material of the window frames are, very strong magnets for above head storage. LED strip lighting around the top with diffusers would be a must.
I feel like I could definitely live here. I would just hope I could hang curtains and get screens on the windows. The plant oasis I would make would be magical.
The ultimate expression of the Japanese adage: "Houses should be designed for Summer". Would love to see Ayaka-san again. She is part of your channel's Lore by now. That she is both a full-fledged Architect and a tiny house lover would be an asset for similar Videos.
Build it and they will come. Based on a person's needs they will adapt to a tiny apartment. This tiny apartment is too minimalist for me. Excellent video!
I've never said this about any apartment before (Japanese or otherwise), but it's definitely somewhere you would want to install electronic blinds, either manually controlled (singly or in groups) and/or preset for different times of day and night. And you would definitely want to install some kind of blind system around the shower that was properly waterproofed and drained downwards into the tub, because the amount of usable shower/tub space that shower curtain removed was just fricking ridiculous! 😲 Are we assuming Norm perhaps approached the bathtub from the wrong direction, and that coming from the hand basin side instead would be much easier than climbing over the toilet? And that way, the hinged glass partition behind the toilet is basically closed permanently rather than becoming a shower door? Personally I'd be tempted to use the emergency ladder as my regular entrance and exit method, and that way the topmost flight of the internal staircase would be made redundant and I could partition it off for myself and instantly double the total floorspace! 😂
yeah, exactly, my first thought was "there is definitely electric blinds or rollout curtains" when i saw electric buttons. Turns out there is NONE. This is crazy.
Emergency ladder as regular entrance and exit. Hehehe. I bet the neighbors whose roof you have to use as a 'step' would love that. But much better option then that concrete tunnel.
When I saw the headline I thought: "What now? Do you sleep in the bathtub? What more can they DO?". WELL! There are so many architecture students, a lot of pressure to innovate. At some point we'll surely transition to Art Apartments, where it's more like a sculpture, a conceptual apartment you can't really live in! I have seen an analogy to this in the world of Art Ceramics. A friend of mine is heavily involved with this, he showed me a poster for a big competition an show about teapots, but they didn't have to be FUNCTIONAL. YES! People make teapots that are not intended to be used, but are just a kind of sculpture. Surely this can happen in housing also?
I have no idea how your videos came across my feed awhile back and missed subscribing then. This video finally appeared in my feed again so i made sure to subscribe this time! I find these places fascinating, being short, most of these wouldn't be that bad but having too much stuff is what would ruin it for me. it gets me thinking about what i would get rid of versus keep and how I would organize within that home.
I'm 30 and moving and I wish we had places like this here in NJ. I can't stand the lack of storage most laces offer. You should see how they do storage and small living in Italy all the furniture is multi-purpose. I love it! So clean looking.
Would need to put tinned foil to half the height of windows, you would need only half length of blinds that way making it easier to manage. Smart home options with controllable blinds and lightning is a must here. All furniture needs to be collapsible and mounted to a wall. Bath to be removed and shower installed. The idea that you wake up and make your morning routine through toilet, shower, breakfast, dressing up while going in a full circle around the apartment is honestly appealing.
The biggest stumbling block for me would be the "kitchen". There is no food prep area and no electrical outlet to even plug in a rice cooker! If you want to make anything more complicated than a cup of tea, you're out of luck. Maybe it would work for someone who ate out every meal? (Also this place's rent is roughly the same amount as my mortgage payment for a 3 bedroom 2 bath 1440 SQ ft condo. Of course I'm in a suburb of Cincinnati and not in a fashionable part of Tokyo but still.)
Out of all the tiny apartments I actually really like this one and could see myself in there. However as a musician I just don’t know how I could do it with the lack of storage, and being 6’1” I know it would feel smaller than it looked on video. Still, there’s something I really like about the layout and being able to customize how open it is - totally open it’s really cool.
@@mikesismey821 Bring it in thru the windows with a long rope 🙂 . I'm trumpet n small keyboard, anyway, so I'd be set. The 5ft wide area was longish ... maybe a drum set up, piece by piece?
Yes i have a major fever of heights . Would not even step inside. I did manage to go to the window of the top of yhe skytree. So i could get an awesome photo of the city.
I actually like the idea of a 360 apartment but i think i would've put the baths and toilet inside the building core. But i kinda feel the open toilet and baths is the "selling point" hahahaha😊
i like this one more than some of the other apts you've been in. i think the fact that you can vary where you sit and what view you have so much more readily than some of the other hallways you've explored makes this place more appealing to me. i imagine that most folks wouldn't be eating in (if your other interviews are any indication), but its a real shame they could add shelves or cabinets to the inside wall where the stairs are. but at least you have your own toilet!!!
FOR ANYONE WHO MISSED LAST WEEKS VID: "A Night in Japan's OLDEST MAZE" ua-cam.com/video/2IIJPaS84GE/v-deo.html
*Anyone else calculate how many of those blinds you would need to close in order to NOT be arrested on that toilet!?* But Could YOU Live Here?
TINY APARTMENT PLAYLIST: ua-cam.com/video/y-1Dwhh7dEc/v-deo.html
The king of window cleaners. lol
1:14 - Norm, which particular video was this one from?
It is Japan, so none?
Japanese memories:
Standing at a urinal in an industrial facility doing my thing and the cleaning lady walks up beside me to start cleaning. NBD, because Japan.
At a tebasaki restaurant - there is a single toilet for the whole restaurant. Hallway for the toilet (toilet is blocked in a separate room with a door), has both a urinal and a sink. Outer door to the hallway has no lock. Taking a leak in the urinal and another customer walks in...
Japan is great for sketchy weirdness.
Nine(9) windows at the "bare" minimum! Fourteen(14) if you insist on using the tub! How in the world did those floor-to-ceiling sliding window panels EVER Pass building codes anyway?
for 400-600 a month yes
This feels like a black mirror episode when the tenant is entertainment for everyone looking in to watch.
LOL
The comment i was looking for
You can bet on how long it takes them to fall or jump, if you win you get to move in 😮
There's actually an Airbnb like this... ☹️
Isn't that just The Truman Show?
Dude, this is like, insane - the price, the layout, the clear health and safety hazard of the entire place! I think you need to try and get a tour with one of the residents because I REALLY want to know how people live in there!
So do i! i really wonder how they would live there
I would love to know how anyone could live in there as well.
They probably do it as a temp apartment until they find another. That’s what I would do, you could get way better for 1000 even in Tokyo
@@funknotiki’d rather sleep in a karaoke or manga cafe for a couple of months than in this 😂😂😂
You'd have to be an extreme minimalist to live there
If I were to live here, I would immediately order a bunch of Galvanized Square Steel to start.
Don't forget the Eco-friendly wood veneer.
I was looking for this comment, thank you 😂
@@earth2k66 +1
And borrow screws from your aunt
ok lil john
Pleeeeeeeease try to find a tenant who will let you show us how they actually use this space. I’m genuinely fascinated!
Why does he need to find one? He can just look inside one from the street.
@@Xaaaach hahhahah
Nobody sane will rent this it is too expensive for what it is and lacking in facilities. Also seems extremely dangerous if you slip you might fall out of the house.
That triangle apartment is much better and at a lower cost too.
Out of all the places you've shown, this one has been the first one to actually set off my instant 'Nope, absolutely not' reaction. Nooooo way this is liveable.
Gotta admit, I loved this apartment lol. I'd add a bit of grating to the barriers so if I dropped anything it wouldn't roll out, but other than that I'd like to live there!
@@Vyselinkpeople from outside could see your naked ass on the toilet... you know that right ?
@@Vyselink me too. I live in a house in the states. But as a guy, all i need is a bed(or place to sleep), a toilet and a shower. This place seems cozy. Doesnt bother me at all.
@@solidamanda You can't fit a bed there. The place is smaller than jail cell.....
@@Vyselink Seriously? How tall are you and where did you grow up:? This place is inhumane.
My claustrophobia could never, it just feels like an endless hallway that you can't escape from.
my fat arse could never even get on that bog.
Did an artist make this so we question what an apartment is?
LOL im guessing the answer is yes
I can tell what it _isn't:_ *This!*
@@TokyoLens Probably also someone's kink to live exposed like that. But heyho. Hope someone feels at home there. I know i couldln't.
No. A rapacious and unethical landlord did.
That's deep
It makes me so happy to hear that Ayaka is a full-time architect! You go, girl.
@@heretic124Or maybe we should hope that. Endless videos about wierd japanese apartments
Yes, good for her!
Genuinely so happy for her!!
Could definitely work for ikea housing.
@@AssassinAgentI certainly hope not because that means people will be living in these and I don't like the thought of people living in these conditions
Now this is the place where galvanized steel and eco friendly wood venier will use
DUDE YES his aunt let him borrow the bolts
Forget the claustrophobic panic I would feel getting up to that apartment and living in it, I would have nightmares of leaving a window open and falling out of my home and ending up as a pancake on the street. What if you dropped your phone and it just slid out of the side of your home. Oh my God. I don't even know how most of that is legal.
Agreed.. As someone who suffers from both claustrophobia and a fear of heights.. this apartment is a living nightmare.
Same! The lack of safety barriers is terrifying and my clumsy self would be bumping stuff out and onto the street.
It was made using Galactic Empire building codes, but is 100 stories too close to the ground.
@@AutumnFalls89 I can see myself falling out of the shower and knocking myself out on the glass door or toilet. There I am buck naked, unconscious😵💫 and probably bleeding all over the place. Nightmare!!
My intrusive thoughts won't let me live PEACEFULLY in a place like this!
I can't imagine how hot it is going to get during the summer in that glass box and creating a draft does not seem like a good idea as whatever you can store there will probably be blown out onto the streets.
I guess it also gets very cold in winter.
Imagine opening the windows, because you cannot stand the heat during the summer. Aaaaaand now it's an insect box.
God my university had a study area between 2 buildings that had glass like this on all sides. even during winter it was easily 20+ C, in the hottest days of summer you just couldnt be in there. That area of the building did not need any heating.
You'll be sleeping in the kitchen next to your "air conditioner"
Yeah, I didn’t even think about that. There’s absolutely no insulation! Might as well be living in a greenhouse.
Why is nobody talking about how the toilet is just hanging out there, what if a friend comes over and needs to shit? Then you got shit smell all over the apartment
I`m pretty sure that your own crap smells too
No problem at all, just open the window right beside the toilet! :-D
Courtesy flush my man, shit falls out your ass, flush immediately 😂
Yeah, so that your friend can always choose to hop out whenever the shit stinks too much
I think this apartment is designed for people with no friends.
Yeah, that'd be a no for me.
It's just not usable space. As you say you could fit a futon on the floor on the side with access but where would you store it when it wasn't out ... or anything else ... you haven't even got a fridge, or space to put one. Using the bath or toilet would be a constant fear of someone seeing and, despite the aircon unit, trying to keep it's greenhouse like structure at a comfortable temperature would be a constant fight.
Not sure having plugs in the floor next to bath is particularly safe either
a very reasonable no lol
i didnt even think about a fridge wow youre right, you would have no way to keep food fresh which is 100% a dealbreaker. if you got the smallest mini fridge possible (that still keeps food at a safe temperature), youd have to put it on the floor and step over it all the time
As someone who suffers from both claustrophobia and a fear of heights.. this apartment is a living nightmare.
not to mention: you´ll have to crawl over the toilet to get in and out of the bathtub. you´ll have to be very agile or struggle really hard to not trip and hurt yourself or to not fall out of the window at all.
@@TheElusiveReality I think you'd have to be eating out a lot....
I mean, remove the bath and this would make a great like art studio for someone. The concept of it as a living space is so insane I can't even...
Kinda thought the same thing~
Plenty of natural light
The idea of front load washer/dryers is that you put the load on, set it to wash & dry, then go to work. It'll be done by the time you get home. The caveat is that you can only do approximately a half load to allow for the laundry to fluff up as it dries. Thank you for attending my TED Talk.
Love the outlet+floor drain combination below the bathtub.
Plus the big window/bathroom wall you can just open. LOL!
Easy ways to end your misery
makes for some good toast in the bath 😋
I want the feng shui guy to tell us where furniture goes. 😂
😂😂😂
He did actually! Or at least an insanely similar tiny apartment if not this exact one. I saw it before seeing this video
@@allosch9 I’ll have to look for it. I’d love to see how he would furnish this nightmare. 😂
@@winry2357 I guess the feng shui just flows all around in that apartment it's like flowing from the door to every window and and from every window to another... you will be sleeping there in the flow xD
That's a Chinese thing. This is Japan. Thanks for playing.
getting your furniture up those stairs.
asserting your dominance in a wall-less bathroom.
sleeping while standing.
Truly a chad-pad.
Oh lord when you opened the window and swung your leg out my heart was in my mouth🙀
Yea my knees went weak as if I was there myself from that camera angle! 😨
And the railing is just this thin rod, like definitely DO NOT lean on it or even hold it with your hands 😅
And then the same slide door next to the bath tube. Imagine slipping during shower while that is open. Nightmare
Imagine tripping and falling out of the widow?
same here...I ...yea..no...I'm still nauseous. but I could live there..strangely
The reaction to this apartment is, "Awww hell no!" and even if you had small enough furniture, those stairs aren't wide enough for anything. Thanks Norm, that was a trip
In Japan the movers usually move furniture and boxes through windows using cranes because the tiny stairwells and lack of elevators are so common 😅
@@Hawthorneheights888 that's how it works for most modern apartments I believe.
haha thanks for tagging along~
Felt just as wild to actually be in there lol
@@Hawthorneheights888 Maybe that's why those windows are so openable? To get stuff in, no matter what might fall out, like the resident.
Huge congrats to Ayaka! Can't wait to see her show up again soon (and hopefully more regularly!), she's such a joy to watch and always brings such an amazing perspective, plus you guys bounce off of each other so well! It's so wholesome!
I think this is the first tiny apartment that you showed that I can't imagine living in. Even the one that was just a bed, a toilet and a shower was way better. In that at least you had proper storage room, and it felt somewhat cosy.
This is one of the few times I don’t think I could stay in the apartment. Having to open and close all those blinds would drive me crazy. Not to mention the price.
I think realistically you would keep 3-5 open and the rest closed permanently. Well I would at least.
@@alexven92 i mean just look at his outside footage: that is exactly what the people on lower floors are doing. Everything to the street closed and 1 on the right side open. Other two "walls" open to speculation, probably similar.
Yeah, i thought it have automatic switch to roll curtains, but blinds manually rolled by pulling ropes is beyond crazy
.
I don’t know the average price of tiny apartments in Japan but the price actually seems like the least shocking part to me considering it’s location in the middle of Tokyo.
Im happy to hear Okazaki-san will be in future videos. I really love her insights on these tiny living spaces.
NIGHTMARE!! I almost yelled when you opened the window to show no safety things.... YIKES!!!!
Yeah imagine if ur drunk and u accidentally fall or crash on the window and it breaks
Biggest dealbreaker is the lack of safety with the windows. If I were gonna have to live here I'd definitely be installing plywoods all around the place. If I'm not allowed to do that then it's a no deal for me.
yeah, it's the main downfall of this appartement
@@petrolakindeed, because you'd fall down, which is a big downfall. 😂
Yeah. Like how the hell is this legal??
Maybe perforated metal sheeting to keep the air flow going?
If I moved in there I'd need a lot of galvanized square steel and some of my aunt's expanding screws to make it liveable
This is not an apartment. This is an art piece. Unlivable
A VERY popular art piece! Lol
I would live there, for sure!
@@TokyoLens
I never have understood art...
@@TokyoLens Well, maybe... you said it was popular to look at, but is anyone actually renting it? Or are they just seeing a small apartment in a luxury area, & then saying hell no once they are given the tour? Notably - the thing is obviously empty. It has a waiting list for realtors & renters to come gawk at it, but sounds like nobody is biting because it's useless.
It's much more liveable than those coffin units. But then, one of those doesn't cost 1000 dollars.
Being able to open those floor to ceiling windows and there only being a bar in place would worry me so much, I would be paranoid about dropping something either directly out the window or it rolling across the floor then dropping out the window 😂. Also appreciate you bringing along the tape measure, helps to give a better sense of scale 😁
I can already see myself laying on the ground outside lol
@@TokyoLens All it takes is one heavy drinking session at a local isakaya and forgetting which windows you left open before going out lol
It would be fun for kids. 😃
Heck, even with the windows closed, I'd be worried about tripping and smashing through one and flipping over the bar.
@@Douglas-zl6yh Definitely not an apartment you want to get drunk in.
Try to legaly expand it with Galvanized square steel and eco friendly wood veneers
why are comments saying that? what did I miss? someone catch me up
@@fhinnes It's from some renovation meme channel ViewOfLuxury.
Architect made sure there is no ROOM for improvement left..!!
this architect probably graduated during the pandemics…
😂😂
This looks like a sims house someone built on a budget of 1000 simoleons...
More like, a sims house someone built SPECIFICALLY to torture their sims 😂
looollll🤣🤣🤣
😅 glad I'm not the only one who thought this😂😂😂😂
이건 누가봐도 심즈하우스🤣
Cross ventilation during the summer would be great. Just open two windows on either side and you wouldn't even have to touch the a/c. And I think you could get decent storage with some of those collapsible hanging closet organizers.
Those outlets though, feel very unsafe in the event of spills, clogged toilet, or rain water getting in.
All they had to do to fix the layout of this building when constructing it was offset the stairwell to one side instead of in the middle. Also, being on the top floor and having 100% window coverage... It would get so god damn hot during the summer there.
Absolutely, my thoughts as well!! Why put the staircase in the middle??
It's an earthquake measure. Putting stairs on one side would increase the likelihood of it falling into your neighbors on the other side and away from the main street making rescue harder. But those windows would probably be a big no during earthquake because you might fall out if you leave the window open.
The staircase is clearly load-bearing. It's built like a tiny skyscraper.
Basically the walls surrounding the stairs act as a Core for the whole building (Imagine a potato chip skewer with the skewer being the core and the chips being the floors) that's basically how it is. Actually moving the core to a corner would be entirely possible structurally, though you would need another load bearing structure perpendicular to the stairs (maybe an elevator perhaps) to even out the center of mass.
@@edgarquillion6581If the stairs are encapsulated by thick concrete walls making it a shear wall, it would not be affected by the earthquake.
You are absolutely right. I have so many questions about this aquari- I mean apartment.
I would be terrified of tripping and falling through one of those glass panels to my death.
I took a break from all the stressors bouncing around my brain right now and ended up being slightly stressed out by the (irrational or maybe not…) thought that you could go out any one of the windows. Usually, I can find some redeeming quality in tiny spaces, but I found myself screeching in terror half a world away. 😳
Thank you so much for much-needed distraction, and ,on a personal note, for creating a community that steps up and steps in when someone needs them most.
Take care!
😂
Thank you so much for always being here for it !!
I agree!! Those open windows scared me so much like you can just fall out 😭😭😭
I’ve drunk walked into closets thinking it was a room door guys. I’d have to baby gate the whole place! 😂
Pra morar neste lugar para de beber 😅😅
windows seem very handy - I'm sure living there would make you want to jump at any moment, so you're covered wherever you are.
I actually saw this on Instagram before you posted this video and shared it to my friends. We could not understand it, so this was perfect! Thanks for this!
Claustrophobia in full effect! 😟 The window safety bar....heck no! The blinds would stay shut if I lived there. I imagine it gets pretty cold during the winter too. Thanks for the tour.
am thinking of paste gift wrapper or newspaper all over the glass
It’s pretty small, so probably easy to warm up ;)
Would be hella hot in summer to, windows on every side just gonna boil that room as long as the sun isnt blocked out by another building.
@@chrisathian5450no, just apply frosted window stickers. Can still let in light without losing aesthetics
@@SL-lz9jr smart 👍
I am so grateful for what I have, these videos have make me realize I have so much
If money wasn't an issue, I think it'd be kinda cool to rent two apartments on consecutive floors. The higher floor could be the main living space while the lower floor would fit storage and other amenities. If you're a plant lover, everything could go on the lower floor with curtains always up.
I was thinking this space would be great for plants!!
If money wasn't an issue, I'd just rent a normal apartment lol
Id love to hear Ayaka's ideas for this place. I have a feeling she'd love it and have great ideas on how to use it
What an uncomfortable and frightening place to live. I thought that while watching a couple of days ago and come back here to report this video gave me a nightmare.
Crazier than the triangle apartment? Just seeing that the apartment is like a big donut around a staircase surrounded by windows... I've got to agree so far!
the square donut! lol
Nice! I love the tiny apartment videos
Me too~
When I worked for Boeing, my wife and I were set up in a place just like this! Our big mistake as newlyweds was foolishly thinking the glass that surrounded us...was one way glass! About 3 months into our stay we figured out why we so popular when we went outside. Actually, we were told. But ironically thanked😮
Just looks like a converted balcony. Mental!
I feel like I would live with the windows open constantly to trick myself into thinking I have more space. But I'm also afraid of heights, so it would last maybe five minutes?
Either way, the fact I have to close curtains if I want to use the washroom is a deal breaker.
lol just closing those blinds every time you wanna use the toilet would ill me lol
The fact that there is almost 0 protection against falling just scares me while looking at it
As someone who suffers from both claustrophobia and a fear of heights.. this apartment is a living nightmare.
you don't have to close the curtain, dear free spirit
I love the 360 degrees of windows. I don't love that theres nothing stopping me from falling out of them my first week there.
I could see that space being a challenge but also fun! But that's coming from a guy who has no problem camping in his car. Also super happy to hear Okazaki is returning!
Yea… for me is a huge no. As Airbnb yes for 2-3. Nights sure!!! Cool - to live : NEVER! And god I hope no one is so selfish to have pets in there!!! It would be cruel to indoor only pets !!!!
I actually kinda like this :D If it had just a bit more space and privacy for toilet/bathroom then it is actually pretty fun! It has a view and windows unlike many other small apartments.
Falling out a window 🪟😞 is a big downer! 😂
Excited to see Ayaka again, would love to hear what she thinks of this place if you get a chance. I think for storage I would figure out some sort of rolling cart solution if I had to live there and just shove carts into other parts of the house when I needed to use a space. I would guess you'd need to close at least 9 of the blinds for the toilet to be obscured sufficiently.
I think if it were at least 3 times the size and designed like a luxury penthouse it could be very interesting . It has so much light coming in and great views. You could have glass that blacked-out for bathroom and bedroom areas to give privacy. I like it!
Dude! Thanks for getting up early to show us that gem! I don't know that I could ever live there (no storage!!!! no fridge!!!!), but it's fascinating to see that it has been created, and to hear that people are interested. Probably be great for someone who's living the simplest life possible (few possessions, buying meals daily). Keep up the good work!
That light coming in at 7:25 **chef's kiss** and again at 8:04 you could shoot a cool music video here.
I LOVE the crazy design! I'm single and don't mind living in one. Life is boring so living in such stylish place is awesome!
Mhh the term "psychopath" comes to mind when thinking of the architect..
Thank you for this tour, Norm! Always fun to explore weird places!
Congrats Ayaka!! Can't wait to see what buildings you find and hopefully build in the future.
why not put the stairwell IN THE CORNER?!
Love the minimalist style tiny house! I like how they try to make everything simple such as hiding the outlets in the floor and the bathroom door is glass and only halfway to the floor. Just imagining how to make this house to my own space is already fun!
But... just CRAZY
I want to know HOW people live and use this space lol
Thanks as always and see you in the next one!
tell us more - how would you make it a comfortable living space?
Would be cool to see a video of someone actually living here and how they decorated the place. 😁😁👍 Great video by the way! 😁😁😁
That ace.is ridiculous!
That balcony is super dangerous!😮
Its more like an aquarium. Reality show for the neighbours free of charge. 😂
I’ve lived in 19’ travel trailers that not only had more amenities but felt more spacious.
Fang Tokyo !! I remember this glass cage.
I can imagine opening some blinds but not all of em, it could also help divide the different areas of the apartment, like having the toilet and kitchen area with the blinds shut, with the entrance/bedroom area with the blinds open.
I am so glad we got rid of cable t.v.,this is far more entertaining! Thanks, I love Japan but that apartment is on a whole new level of micro.💕✌️The bed would have to be a roll away futon the size of a sleeping bag, and clothes,food stuff,supplies would hsve to be stored in stackable containers I would guess?
yea until you have to plug something in and spider in that hole bites you
This feels less like an apartment, and more a place to hang out. The utilities (washer, shower, kitchen) seem quite the afterthought and things you would rarely use here.
Like, I could see this being a nice place to drink and watch a movie with friends.
I enjoy all the video's you have been uploading but I think this has been my favorite series since you started doing it. Keep on finding more crazy and tiny apartments. Video's are awesome as always.
How did that building pass safety standards!?!? That's dangerous as Hell! One slip and you could literally roll out of your apartment and plummet several feet to your demise.
I have gotten less afraid watching rock climbing videos. This was a true horror short film. It even has a subtle dystopian subtext.
Wow, that apartment was crazy.
I absolutely couldn't handle that apartment just for one reason the 360 glass windows, cause I'm afraid of heights.
Bro.. You KILLED it on this video! One of the best jvloggers in the game. Amazing video!
Ok. The main hall would get a 12 inch deep floor to ceiling built in cabnets and shelves. complete with horizontal twin size Murphy bed. This will give some storage. A triangular desk in the corner leads to the kitchen. To work from or put a small tv on. That way you can watch from the kitchen or Murphy bed. Add shelves to the kitchen nook and slide out slab table right above the washer. That way you have extra kitchen space or a spot for doing clothes. The guest room?... add some very high cabnets like at the 6.5 mark. (I'm hoping these are at least 8ft ceilings) for more storage. Sorry tall people Some lights underneath them and some small funiture that will double as a stool. Everything extra has to hang on suction cup hooks.😅 that's best I could think of.
I got chills from the start when you swing your leg out of the window bar
Cliff from Dear Modern actually came up with a good layout for this crazy apartment. However, this place feels very ... unsafe? I would have a hard time trusting those sockets, especially the one next to the bathtub!
Yes I loved his take
So close to a million, I can’t think of a harder working more deserving content creator!👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼😺
I'd have a custom loft bed with enough room on the edge so I could walk through the corridor without ducking down. You have to think vertically with this place and probably a lot of custom furniture. Thin but long wardrobes that could maybe double as a wall to block the windows. Maybe if the landlord allows it, a folding table connected to the side of the wall that can fold out when needed. Lots of hooks and depending on what the material of the window frames are, very strong magnets for above head storage. LED strip lighting around the top with diffusers would be a must.
Clever!! Should have brought you with me lol
But how would you get those wardrobes up that nightmare staircase?
@@superionmaximus9900disassembled, then build it on the floor, like what IKEA does.
@@superionmaximus9900 open windows, winch it up from the outside.
lol next time i'm in Japan give me a shout out - great content as always. @@TokyoLens
I feel like I could definitely live here. I would just hope I could hang curtains and get screens on the windows. The plant oasis I would make would be magical.
The ultimate expression of the Japanese adage: "Houses should be designed for Summer".
Would love to see Ayaka-san again. She is part of your channel's Lore by now. That she is both a full-fledged Architect and a tiny house lover would be an asset for similar Videos.
Build it and they will come. Based on a person's needs they will adapt to a tiny apartment. This tiny apartment is too minimalist for me. Excellent video!
great view to have~
I will never get tired of watching these
I see nothing but possibility. Love it!
i dont know i would live in this apartments. But the tiny aparments alway spark my intrest to see and what peolpe make of it
I've never said this about any apartment before (Japanese or otherwise), but it's definitely somewhere you would want to install electronic blinds, either manually controlled (singly or in groups) and/or preset for different times of day and night. And you would definitely want to install some kind of blind system around the shower that was properly waterproofed and drained downwards into the tub, because the amount of usable shower/tub space that shower curtain removed was just fricking ridiculous! 😲
Are we assuming Norm perhaps approached the bathtub from the wrong direction, and that coming from the hand basin side instead would be much easier than climbing over the toilet? And that way, the hinged glass partition behind the toilet is basically closed permanently rather than becoming a shower door?
Personally I'd be tempted to use the emergency ladder as my regular entrance and exit method, and that way the topmost flight of the internal staircase would be made redundant and I could partition it off for myself and instantly double the total floorspace! 😂
But if you use the toilet, you have to climb through the bath tub to get to a sink to wash your hands... It just doesn't make any sense ^^
yeah, exactly, my first thought was "there is definitely electric blinds or rollout curtains" when i saw electric buttons. Turns out there is NONE. This is crazy.
@@AndreaKeil - Either that, or otherwise walk the entire way around the flat with your stink hands to reach the basin 😂
Emergency ladder as regular entrance and exit. Hehehe. I bet the neighbors whose roof you have to use as a 'step' would love that. But much better option then that concrete tunnel.
When I saw the headline I thought: "What now? Do you sleep in the bathtub? What more can they DO?". WELL! There are so many architecture students, a lot of pressure to innovate. At some point we'll surely transition to Art Apartments, where it's more like a sculpture, a conceptual apartment you can't really live in! I have seen an analogy to this in the world of Art Ceramics. A friend of mine is heavily involved with this, he showed me a poster for a big competition an show about teapots, but they didn't have to be FUNCTIONAL. YES! People make teapots that are not intended to be used, but are just a kind of sculpture. Surely this can happen in housing also?
Just as i was eyeing new apartments 😂
Love to see it Norm!
I have no idea how your videos came across my feed awhile back and missed subscribing then. This video finally appeared in my feed again so i made sure to subscribe this time! I find these places fascinating, being short, most of these wouldn't be that bad but having too much stuff is what would ruin it for me.
it gets me thinking about what i would get rid of versus keep and how I would organize within that home.
Welcome aboard!
I'm 30 and moving and I wish we had places like this here in NJ. I can't stand the lack of storage most laces offer. You should see how they do storage and small living in Italy all the furniture is multi-purpose. I love it! So clean looking.
Would need to put tinned foil to half the height of windows, you would need only half length of blinds that way making it easier to manage. Smart home options with controllable blinds and lightning is a must here. All furniture needs to be collapsible and mounted to a wall. Bath to be removed and shower installed. The idea that you wake up and make your morning routine through toilet, shower, breakfast, dressing up while going in a full circle around the apartment is honestly appealing.
The person who designed this should be indicted for war crimes.
The biggest stumbling block for me would be the "kitchen". There is no food prep area and no electrical outlet to even plug in a rice cooker! If you want to make anything more complicated than a cup of tea, you're out of luck. Maybe it would work for someone who ate out every meal? (Also this place's rent is roughly the same amount as my mortgage payment for a 3 bedroom 2 bath 1440 SQ ft condo. Of course I'm in a suburb of Cincinnati and not in a fashionable part of Tokyo but still.)
Out of all the tiny apartments I actually really like this one and could see myself in there. However as a musician I just don’t know how I could do it with the lack of storage, and being 6’1” I know it would feel smaller than it looked on video. Still, there’s something I really like about the layout and being able to customize how open it is - totally open it’s really cool.
Me too ❤
I think it'd be fun for a short-term commitment for sure 🙂
I hope your musical instrument of choice is a recorder or a tambourine because you couldn't even jam a guitar up that staircase😊
@@mikesismey821
Bring it in thru the windows with a long rope 🙂 .
I'm trumpet n small keyboard, anyway, so I'd be set.
The 5ft wide area was longish ... maybe a drum set up, piece by piece?
People who Hate Heights are Going too Love This Place 😂
probably should have included a warning for that one 😂
Yes i have a major fever of heights . Would not even step inside. I did manage to go to the window of the top of yhe skytree. So i could get an awesome photo of the city.
The fear of heights is wayyyy worse than clausterphobia for this one
I actually like the idea of a 360 apartment but i think i would've put the baths and toilet inside the building core. But i kinda feel the open toilet and baths is the "selling point" hahahaha😊
i like this one more than some of the other apts you've been in. i think the fact that you can vary where you sit and what view you have so much more readily than some of the other hallways you've explored makes this place more appealing to me. i imagine that most folks wouldn't be eating in (if your other interviews are any indication), but its a real shame they could add shelves or cabinets to the inside wall where the stairs are. but at least you have your own toilet!!!
Finally, the perfect apartment for an exhibitionist.
2 words. 👏 galvanized 👏steel👏