Japanese houses come in all shapes and sizes, but privacy is always a big concern. Here are 10 that offer their residents complete seclusion, from an angular concrete bunker to a seemingly windowless box. More about Ten bunker-like houses in Japan that offer total privacy
Wood knotholes are typically a sign of poverty in Japanese architecture, but ICADA has used them to create a unique lighting effect in Knothole House. More about ICADA intentionally puts holes in roof of small wooden house in Japan
Plant-lined balconies and a grid-like facade wrap around the glass Kojimachi Terrace office in Tokyo, which Nendo has designed "to bring the outside in". More about Nendo wraps timber grid around plant-filled balconies of Japanese office
Architect Takeshi Hosaka has built himself a micro home in Tokyo that has a total floor area of just 19 square metres and features a pair of curved roofs. More about Takeshi Hosaka designs tiny house in Tokyo with funnel-like roofs
A geometric pattern of square-shaped rooms connected by rhombus-shaped circulation areas forms House in Hokusetsu, Osaka, by Japanese firm Tato Architects. More about House in Hokusetsu by Tato Architects is designed as a labyrinth
Shoraku-Ji is a Buddhist temple next to a cemetery in northeast Tokyo by Toru Kashihara Architects with a stepped concrete design that aims to subvert traditional temple architecture. More about Toru Kashihara Architects designs stepped concrete temple in Tokyo
Takashi Yamaguchi & Associates has completed Topological Folding House, a home formed of a continuous white strip that wraps around to form floors, ceilings and balconies. More about Takashi Yamaguchi & Associates designs house in Japan based on a Möbius loop
Japanese studio FujiwaraMuro Architects designed House in Toyonaka, Osaka, as a series of offset boxes with gaps between them that allow light and air to enter the house, while maintaining the occupants' privacy. More about House in Toyonaka embeds windows in gaps between monolithic grey boxes
We've updated our Pinterest board dedicated to the best Japanese houses, including a home on Okinawa Island with a metal-mesh canopy covered in plants and a house made up of spiralling platforms. Follow Dezeen on Pinterest ›
More about Explore eye-catching Japanese houses on our Pinterest board
Japanese studio Tato Architects has built a house in the town of Sonobe, Japan, with a sunroom that can be opened up to the garden by sliding open a huge corrugated polycarbonate wall. More about Huge sliding door reveals courtyard at House in Sonobe by Tato Architects
Foster + Partners has completed the first Apple Store in Kyoto, Japan, which has a translucent facade informed by the materiality of traditional Japanese houses and lanterns. More about Foster + Partners models Apple Store in Kyoto on traditional Japanese houses
A windowless wall punctured by a giant void projects from this steel-clad Japanese house near Tokyo, creating a secret "exterior living room". More about Apollo Architects & Associates hides courtyard behind Cover House's metal facade
Architecture studio Snark has completed a house in Maebashi, Japan, incorporating a solarium that the owner uses to grow plants. More about Snark's House in Nakauchi is half opaque home and half transparent sunroom
A modernist hotel that featured in 1960s James Bond film You Only live Twice is being rebuilt to be more earthquake-proof, reopening in Tokyo next year. More about Tokyo's new Hotel Okura will recreate iconic rooms from the original
Schemata Architects, headed by Jo Nagasaka, has converted a traditional house in Kamakura, Japan, into an office featuring modern fitted furniture. More about Schemata Architects contrasts original features with modern interventions for Japanese office
Japanese architecture studio Hibinosekkei incorporated structures intended to encourage play into the interior design of this Tokyo support centre for children with developmental difficulties. More about Climbing wall and swing promote play at Hibinosekkei's Tokyo childcare centre
Japanese studio Akihisa Hirata Architecture Office has completed a mixed-use building in Tokyo featuring a jumbled composition of concrete rooms that create spaces for small balconies and gardens. More about Akihisa Hirata stacks concrete boxes to create "futuristic and savage" Tree-ness House
Large openings in the corrugated-metal facades of this boxy building in Shizuoka, Japan, frame views of the neighbourhood from a shop on the ground floor and residence above. More about Suzuki Architects combines a home and shop at Gré Square House
For this lakeside house in Japan, Tokyo-based studio Sugawaradaisuke used five interlocking levels to create multiple viewing platforms both inside and outside the property. More about Interlocking indoor and outdoor levels bring Japanese house close to nature
Japanese practice Hibinosekkei has completed a nursery in Yokohama, which features plywood-lined interiors and house-shaped openings set into its dark facades. More about House-shaped windows puncture perforated metal facades of Yokohama nursery