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
Japanese architect Kazuhiko Kishimoto designed the ground floor of this house in Yokohama with barely any walls so it can function as a gallery and seating area for members of the local community (+ slideshow). More about House by Kazuhiko Kishimoto has a public seating deck and gallery underneath
Japanese architect Tomohiro Hata planned this suburban house in Hyogo Prefecture as a cluster of three buildings around a courtyard, based on the traditional city residences of farmers, artisans and merchants. More about House N by Tomohiro Hata is based on a traditional Japanese vernacular
This concrete house in Tokyo was designed by Japanese firm Apollo Architects & Associates for a family that regularly accommodates foreign exchange students (+ slideshow). More about Concrete Calm house by Apollo Architects designed to accommodate exchange students
This small house in Japan by architect Hiroyuki Shinozaki features volcanic stone walls and a ribbed structure that forms the shape of a dome over the central living space (+ slideshow). More about Hiroyuki Shinozaki's House I features stone walls surrounding a ribbed dome
The translucent polycarbonate walls of this house in Hiroshima by Japanese architects Suppose Design Office allow natural light to flood the interior from all sides (+ slideshow). More about Suppose Design Office's House of Tousuienn has translucent plastic walls
This narrow house in Tokyo by local studio Another Apartment has no windows or doors on its front to prevent neighbours from seeing inside. More about Long Window House by Another Apartment has no windows or doors on its front
The entire facade of this house in the Japanese town of Ōiso by Atelier HAKO Architects is clad in fibre-reinforced cement boards and punctuated by a series of scattered windows (+ slideshow). More about House in Ōiso with walls covered in roofing material by Atelier HAKO Architects
An indoor courtyard with an earth floor and central tree is concealed behind the concrete walls of this bulky house in Hiroshima by Japanese studio Suppose Design Office (+ slideshow). More about House in Yagi containing an indoor courtyard by Suppose Design Office
Volcanic soil was mixed with cement to create the building blocks of this house in south-west Japan by Tokyo studio Aray Architecture (+ slideshow). More about Shirasu house with volcanic soil brickwork by Aray Architecture
Arched doorways lead through the spaces of this house in Osaka, which was designed by Japanese office Tsubasa Iwahashi Architects to centre around a family dining table. More about Japanese house designed around a dining table by Tsubasa Iwahashi Architects
This house in Tokyo by Japanese studio Case-Real is rectangular at the front and hexagonal at the back (+ slideshow). More about House in Tsurumaki with a hexagonal living room by Case-Real
The clients for this small house in Tokushima, Japan, asked architect Naoko Horibe for a timber interior and an exterior that looks like a sports car. More about Arboleda house by Horibe Associates
Some of the concrete walls of this house in Yokohama, Japan, by Tai and Associates were formed against wooden planks, while some have been rendered white and others have been left plain (+ slideshow). More about House in Shinoharadai by Tai and Associates
This timber house in Kanagawa by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban has a square plan with a teardrop-shaped courtyard at its centre (+ slideshow). More about Villa at Sengokubara by Shigeru Ban
Japanese studio Tato Architects references the ad-hoc extensions of neighbouring buildings with the steel, concrete and wooden volumes that make up this house in Osaka, Japan (+ slideshow). More about House in Ishikiri by Tato Architects
This house in Hyogo, Japan, by local architect Shogo Aratani is made up of overlapping concrete slabs that accommodate an interior of staggered floors and ramped corridors (+ slideshow). More about House in Hyogo by Shogo Aratani Architect & Associates
Partitions that don't reach the ceiling create the illusion of a larger space in this renovated flat in Japan by Naruse Inokuma Architects (+ slideshow). More about Skyroom by Naruse Inokuma Architects
This house in Saitama, Japan, by Naf Architect & Design looks like it's been chopped in two and split open. More about House Snapped by Naf Architect & Design