For a society that regards conformity as an important value , there are surprising number of Japanese who opt for homes that defy the cookie-cutter design . Take for example , Tatsumi Terado and his wife Hanae who lives in a house with no interior walls , hardly any barriers and some ladders to get around . The young couple call their house the Ninja -- because they need to be as nimble as one to go from one room to another . `` We feel we 're getting in better shape these days , '' says Hanae Terado , extolling the benefits of all the climbing around the house . `` But we never fall . '' Radical design is featuring more and more in Japan 's residential landscape and is a hit among the country 's young generation . It is as if the compact spaces the Japanese have to live in are pushing the architects , and their clients , to think out of the box and let their whimsical ideas take off . Says Hanae Terado : `` I do n't know if this is a cutting edge , but this is a house where our thoughts and inspirations take place . '' Avant-garde design in Japan largely caters to middle class couples or families building a small house , not the typical clientele of bold architectural ideas elsewhere in the world . These average Japanese home owners can afford to take more risks because , unlike many of their counterparts in the West , they do n't have to worry about long-term investment . `` Houses depreciate in value over 15 years after being built , '' says Tokyo-based architect Alastair Townsend , `` and on average they are demolished after 25 or 30 years , so the owner of a house does n't need to consider what a future buyer might want . `` It gives them a lot of creative license to design a home that 's an expression of their own eccentricities or lifestyle . '' Open a Japanese architecture magazine or browse the Internet , and there are many examples of eccentric homes across the country , from strange polygonal structures to houses with no windows . While this conceptual Japanese architecture could be a bit impractical , these homes are becoming more like modern-art installations breathing new life into the country 's cramped spaces . Some of the more quirky homes are built next to plain-looking buildings . Architect Sou Fujimoto 's `` Skeleton House '' stands out in an average Tokyo neighborhood . The transparent building , which he built for a young couple , lacks in privacy but conjures a sense of open elegance . Calling the design `` kind of a tree house , '' Fujimoto says , `` We thought the whole house is like one big tree . You can jump onto one branch and the other branch to move around . '' He also argues that the house fits Tokyo 's character as one part of the cozy components that make up the city . `` I think it 's a really , really nice collaboration because at the beginning , it was more simple , a bit more boring , '' he says . `` Then it 's getting more exciting . '' Yenni Kwok contributed to this report .
Radical design is featuring more and more in Japan 's residential landscape . It is a hit among the country 's young generation . Many avant-garde structures are small middle-class homes . Having no worry about long-term investment gives Japanese home owners a lot of creative license .