A requirement for this house in Matsuyama, Japan, was for views of the city's summer firework display, so architect Teruki Takayoshi added a balcony, a roof terrace and a two-storey-high window (+ slideshow). More about Matsuyama house by TTArchitects features dedicated spaces for watching fireworks
Square and circular holes puncture the concrete facade of this house in Japan by Fuse Atelier, allowing light to filter through to five small terraces concealed behind (+ movie). More about Fuse Atelier's House in Tsudanuma brings light in through a perforated concrete facade
Japanese studio YUUA Architects & Associates has slotted a house into a 2.5-metre-wide space between two existing buildings in Tokyo. More about Rooms are less than two metres wide inside Tokyo house by YUUA Architects
Japanese architects Kunihiko Matsuba and Seitaro Aso have renovated an apartment in Tokyo, pairing exposed structural elements with contemporary details (+ slideshow). More about Saito House in Tokyo features herringbone flooring and an exposed wooden structure
![[ME]morial by Beomki Lee](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/08/MEmorial-by-Beomki-Lee-Air_dezeen_468_1.jpg)
Graduate shows 2015: MIT graduate Beomki Lee has developed a proposal to commemorate the victims of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Sendai, Japan, with a series of spaces themed around air, earth, and water (+ slideshow). More about Memorials by Beomki Lee would pay tribute to victims of the Japan earthquake and tsunami
A large roof overhangs the walls of this simple wooden house on Japan's Kanto Plain, offering residents shade during hot weather and shelter from rain showers (+ slideshow). More about Nobuo Araki creates simple house with overhanging eaves on Japan's largest plain
British architect Richard Rogers says Japan "lost its nerve" in abandoning Zaha Hadid's Olympic stadium design, adding that the decision could damage the country's credibility. More about Richard Rogers steps in to defend Zaha Hadid's scrapped Tokyo 2020 Olympic stadium
Arched doorways and shuttered windows give this Japanese residence by Takushu Arai the appearance of an oversized playhouse (+ slideshow). More about Arched openings cut through walls of Takushu Arai's steel-plated house in Yokohama
Japanese studio Kubo Tsushima Architects has renovated a wedding chapel in Tokyo's Ebisu district – painting each windowsill in colours of the rainbow to "impart faint hues" as light filters through (+ slideshow). More about Rainbow hues are cast onto the walls of Kubo Tshushima's Tokyo wedding chapel
A spacious loft room bordered by a slender handrail is located beneath the steeply sloping wooden rafters of this Tokyo house by Apollo Architects & Associates (+ slideshow). More about Nord house by Apollo Architects boasts a spacious loft room for children to play in
Huge steel beams with I-shaped profiles were stacked to form the framework of this Tokyo house by Mount Fuji Architects Studio, which features a red spiral staircase winding between its floors (+ slideshow). More about Log Rhythm house revives old Japanese building technique using steel beams instead of wood
Mizuno Architecture Design has created a concrete office and conference facility for the employees of a tuna processing factory in the Japanese seaside town of Yaizu (+ slideshow). More about Yoshiyasu Mizuno creates raw concrete office block for fish-processing plant
This raw concrete house in Tokyo was designed by Japanese firm Apollo Architects & Associates as a family home for a couple whose interests include contemporary art and cars (+ slideshow). More about Apollo Architects creates spaces for artwork and cars in raw concrete Grigio house
Zaha Hadid Architects says its design for the Tokyo stadium design should be revised rather than scrapped, to avoid missing the immovable deadline of the 2020 Olympics. More about Zaha Hadid says Japan ignored warnings over Olympic stadium construction costs
Israeli illustrator Noma Bar has created a wooden pavilion shaped like a bird with a leafy back among the trees of a wood in central Japan (+ slideshow). More about Noma Bar's bird-shaped treehouse provides a vantage point over a Japanese woodland
Graduate shows 2015: traditional machiya houses in the Japanese city of Kyoto are under threat from modern development, so Royal College of Art graduate Adam Roberts proposes stacking them up to make them more cost and space efficient (+ slideshow). More about Adam Roberts proposes stacking traditional Kyoto dwellings to create "machiya towers"
Thousands of plates, cups, saucers and bowls are stacked to form a display platform in this Japanese ceramics shop by Yusuke Seki (+ slideshow). More about Yusuke Seki uses 25,000 pieces of crockery to raise the floor of a ceramics shop
The Osaka office of Nikken Sekkei's interior design studio features a bookcase conceived as a "stand in a stadium" – the latest example of the trend for bookshelf staircases in both home and office interiors (+ slideshow). More about Nikken Space Design's office in Osaka features a bleacher-style bookcase
Photo essay: French photographer Jérémie Souteyrat trained himself to photograph architecture after moving to Tokyo, by hunting down and documenting some of the best private houses in his adopted city. More about Tokyo No Ie: Jérémie Souteyrat documents Tokyo's contemporary houses
Zaha Hadid's controversial plans for the 2020 Olympic Stadium in Tokyo have been scrapped. More about Japan scraps Zaha Hadid's Tokyo 2020 Olympic Stadium