Creative Direction The arrowhead-shaped corner at the end of the living room evolved from the need to accommodate a standard sliding-glass-door module. “It would have been astronomically expensive to custom-build it,” says Chris Bardt. This architectural gesture— the arrow “points” toward the river—“enabled us to be very generous with the view area without having to extend the entire house.”

The Lais designed their house to be theirs forever. As such, they were able to make design moves that made sense for themselves but that wouldn't have high resale value, like the Japanese-style master bathroom in the middle of the second floor instead of off of the master bedroom. The traditional setup features bath stools from Muji for washing off.

The back of the house has sliding doors that open far enough to expose the entire livingroom to the families' back yard.

The house’s Japanese inspiration manifests in many ways, including beams that extend outwards over the front door. Floor-to-ceiling windows around the entrance and continuous indoor-outdoor epoxy-pebble flooring blur the barrier between the interior and exterior.

The resident, a Tokyo transplant, commissioned architect Tadashi Murai to create a fully-equipped structure that comes with its own power, heating and cooling, water, and waste-disposal systems.

Nakada works from an Alvar Aalto table in the living and dining area, adjacent to the kitchen. He saved on some elements, such as the plywood cabinetry, and splurged on others, such as the Finn Juhl chairs and Vilhelm Lauritzen lamp. A skylight beneath the angled roof allows in a sliver of constantly changing light.

Takuma strikes a pose from the loft lookout as seen from the second floor. The loft is used for storage as well as a place for some peace and quiet.

The brass fittings are new to the project but are similar to metal that was originally used elsewhere in the project. The fittings, seen here in the children’s bathroom, will quickly acquire a dark patina.

The long, lean Kobayashi complex includes a bathroom and storage room in the structure on the far right.

Large clerestory windows face the street at the Higashibatas’ house in Tokyo, optimizing both privacy and natural light within.

The light fixtures, a string of dangling lights seen above the dining table, emulate what SHED Architects principal Thomas Schaer calls Zema’s “builderly” style: straightforward and unpretentious. The wooden screens, seen top right, are all-new to the house but follow Zema’s Japanese-inspired style.

Bookshelves add extra utility to the undulating staircase in Tokyo's 921-square-foot Coil house. The space was designed by architect Akihisa Hirata for Sakura and Ryo Sugiura, a young couple with two children.

Tsutsui continued the Oregon pine from the floor to the steel-reinforced cantilevered staircase, which appears to float above the floor.

The staircase leads to the living area upstairs.

Inside, the bottom floor contains the bedroom, off of which is the bathroom, with a tub from Kaldewei and a Duravit sink.

The house is surrounded by buildings on all sides except its south facade, which faces the street. An expansive operable window is key for effective ventilation during hot summer months. Additionally, a cantilevered balcony shelters a carport, bike storage, and even a playful swing.

@nelsontreehouse: "We spy a treehouse with some Japanese flair. Could it be a teahouse?"

The building's shape and materials are the sort you find in a modernist residence in the UK, but it's the unfussy Japanese interior that reveals a design tailored to this multicultural family.

The top of the house is dedicated to a dining area and a kitchen outfitted with steel-topped cabinets from Sanwa Company.

“We adjusted the combinations to see what kinds of spaces they created in relationship to the site and the surrounding buildings,” his associate Satoshi Ohkami explains.

The engawa deck is a traditional Japanese feature. It's a place where guests are often greeted to sit with a casual cup of tea. The David and Mayuko also uses it as a viewing porch toward the back yard for when the kids play in the grass.

"I was looking into dome homes built by a company called Bess," Hasui tells FvF. "Dome homes are strong and can withstand storms and natural disasters, and the space inside is such a unique shape and works well for sound."

At the client’s request the kitchen contains neither upper cabinets (Shino can’t reach them) nor an oven (they only used the old one once—to reheat a pizza). A modular Roche Bobois Mah Jong sofa adds a decorative flourish to the living area while maintaining as low a profile as the traditional Japanese furniture.

Since Portland is at roughly the same latitude as Sapporo, Japan, Howells was inspired by minimalist Japanese gardens. All of the wood used in the space, including the furniture, is designed to weather to a silver-gray shade over time.

The top of the house is dedicated to a dining area and a kitchen outfitted with steel-topped cabinets from Sanwa Company. Read more about this dimensional three-storied Japanese home here.

Though the lane on which the Japanese House sits is off the main street, a rock wall affords the small yard quite a bit of privacy. It also nicely frames the second floor of the house from street level. Have a look at the traditional architecture nearby in the reflection in the corner window.

The couple asked for a “no maintenance, not low maintenance” backyard. However, Shino tends to “Carlsbad's largest public bathroom for cats” (otherwise known as their Japanese-style rock garden) about once a month. Don't miss a word of Dwell! Download our FREE app from iTunes, friend us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter!

Resident Ty Milford peruses a book by the George Nelson–inspired built-ins fabricated by Big Branch Woodworking

The second floor features this clever storage design—a “hidden space,” as co-design studio refers to it.

Architect Tadashi Murai designed this remote retreat for a Tokyo transplant who abandoned his corporate existence.

The family sits around, and under in the case of four-year-old Kaz’ma, the sunken table for a snack. Makiko made the covers of the mats her mother sent from Japan by hand. The black lamp is from Ikea.

Visiting a Manhattan apartment designed by Tim Seggerman is like sitting inside one of Nakashima’s cabinets, a metaphor realized most fully in an ingenious "library"—really a glorified cubby with a banded maple ceiling, conjured from a free space adjacent to the loft bed.

The kitchen was originally an awkward alcove facing the main living area. The architects expanded the room and installed a classic modernist ‘service core’ at the kitchen’s center; it features large appliances such as a Sub-Zero fridge and an Asko washer/dryer. This allows easy movement through the kitchen to the adjacent dining room and main hallways.

Nestled in a grove of Douglas fir trees, the house stands on series of wooden pylons in a Japanese-inspired fashion. Residents ascend the stairs, center, to reach its single floor. The exterior wooden shingles were intact and are original to the design.