Japanese architect Eto Kenta has hidden a narrow garden behind the metal-clad exterior of this house in Ōita Prefecture, Japan (+ slideshow). More about Metal-clad house in Japan by Eto Kenta conceals its garden
A concrete tunnel slices through the base of this Tokyo house by Japanese architect Makiko Tsukada, creating a round hole in the facade that reveals the underside of a staircase (+ slideshow). More about Curving concrete creates a tunnel through Tokyo house by Makiko Tsukada
This narrow building in Tokyo by local studio Apollo Architects & Associates accommodates an 85-year-old restaurant within its base, while its upper floor is a residence with a cantilevered balcony (+ slideshow). More about Switch by Apollo Architects gives a new home to an 85-year-old restaurant
This metal-clad house in Chiba, Japan, was designed by architect Yuji Kimura to fill its site, meaning a car-parking space and balcony had to be slotted within its boxy volume (+ slideshow). More about House in Chiba by Yuji Kimura hides a garage and balcony behind its walls
Pointed doorways and openings throughout this house in Kyoto, Japan, were designed by Alts Design Office to mimic the building's gabled profile (+ slideshow). More about House-shaped doorways puncture Hazukashi House by Alts Design Office
Charred cedar clads the walls of this house in Aichi, Japan, by architecture studio MDS, while exposed wooden beams create a rack-like effect on the underside of the diagonally slanted roof. More about Charred timber clads walls of Okazaki House by MDS
Katsutoshi Sasaki + Associates built this unusually skinny house on a three-metre-wide site in a residential district of Aichi Prefecture, Japan (+ slideshow). More about Katsutoshi Sasaki's Imai house is just three metres wide
A grid of chunky timber beams criss-crosses a void between the ground and first floors to allow light to circulate in this Studio Aula-designed house in Shiojiri, Japan (+ slideshow). More about Criss-crossing wooden beams fill a void inside Studio Aula's Cocoon House
The three-layered facade of this riverside house in Tsukubamirai, Japan, was intended by local studio Kichi Architectural Design to reference rippling water (+ slideshow). More about Three white walls front Ripple house by Kichi Architectural Design
This cube-shaped house in Ibaraki Prefecture with small square windows dotted around its facades is the second project we've featured by Japanese studio Kichi Architectural Design (+ slideshow). More about Kichi Architectural Design completes cube-shaped House of Kubogaoka
Japanese studio Kichi Architectural Design has converted a farmyard barn in Ibaraki Prefecture to create a simple home and office featuring exposed wooden ceilings and an angular partition wall (+ slideshow). More about Renovated Japanese barn contains home and office by Kichi Architectural Design
Huge sliding doors at the front and rear of this weekend house in rural Hiroshima allow residents to open out their timber-lined living spaces to the scenic mountain landscape (+ slideshow). More about Hinanai Village House opens out to a scenic mountain landscape
A doorway is the only opening in the faceted concrete facade of this family residence in Tokyo by architecture studio MDS. More about Shirokane House by MDS concealed behind windowless concrete facade
Japanese architect Shimpei Oda has reworked the dark interior of a humble 1920s house in Kyoto to bring natural light into living spaces and create a small gallery that opens to the street (+ slideshow). More about Shimpei Oda reworks humble Japanese house to create light-filled spaces
This house in Hyogo, Japan, was designed by Tato Architects with the same hipped roof, stilted structure and wide balcony that are common to residences in Queensland, Australia (+ slideshow). More about House in Kawanishi by Tato Architects with hipped roof and stilts
This Tokyo house by Japanese office Atelier Tekuto features a huge triangular window that angles up over the rooftops of surrounding houses to bring daylight in from above (+ slideshow). More about Tokyo house by Atelier Tekuto with skylight designed to "frame the sky"
This house by Japanese architect Shogo Aratani clambers over a steep rocky site in Hyogo, so it was named Krampon after the spiky devices that strap onto shoes to improve grip for climbing (+ slideshow). More about Krampon house by Shogo Aratani climbs over a rocky site
This tiny seaside home in Kanagawa by Japanese office Yasutaka Yoshimura Architects is contained within little more than a pair of oversized windows raised up on stilts (+ slideshow). More about Micro house by Yasutaka Yoshimura slotted between two huge windows
Toshiharu Naka of Tokyo-based Naka Studio added an asymmetric roof with overhanging eaves to this house in a Japanese skiing village to create a huge sheltered terrace for residents (+ slideshow). More about Cedar-clad villa by Naka Studio shelters a huge terrace beneath its roof
A wooden ladder and a pair of winding steel staircases link the rooms of this lofty house in Sapporo, Japan, by Jun Igarashi Architects (+ slideshow). More about Jun Igarashi's Case house comes with two twisting staircases