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
A geometric pattern of skylights frames views of the sky from inside this angular white residence in Tokyo by Japanese firm Atelier Tekuto (+ slideshow). More about Atelier Tekuto creates an angular house with a pattern of pointy skylights
Trees line the protruding balconies of this concrete house in Tokyo by Japanese studio Ryo Matsui Architects (+ slideshow). More about Four-storey house with tree-lined balconies by Ryo Matsui Architects
Japanese firm Atelier HAKO Architects used concrete dotted with formwork impressions for both the internal and external surfaces of these stacked residences in a suburb of Tokyo (+ slideshow). More about Concrete homes patterned with formwork holes by Atelier HAKO Architects
A rock garden filled with trees and shrubs is sandwiched between glazed rooms and floating windowless walls at this house in Japan by mA-style Architects (+ slideshow). More about Green Edge House by mA-style Architects has a hidden garden around its perimeter
A high-end hair salon and family home are separated by a courtyard planted with a single tree in this building designed by Tokyo firm Apollo Architects & Associates in the Japanese city of Hamamatsu (+ slideshow). More about House with a hair salon hidden at the back by Apollo Architects & Associates