Twenty-five-year-old Sotaro Ito lives in a 9.46-square-meter apartment with a loft in the capital’s retro-hip Koenji district.
His apartment looks more like an office cubicle, with a desk and computer chair dominating a third of the room. A reading pillow is propped up against one of the walls, but there isn’t enough space for him to stretch out his body. A clothesline rope stretches between two wall sconces for him to dry his laundry, and his kitchen is equipped with a small sink and a single induction cooktop.
What his room lacks in space, however, is made up for in height. The ceiling of the apartment is 3.6 meters high and three windows have been built into the exterior wall, letting in plenty of light. A white ladder takes Ito up to a 4.5-square-meter loft that’s 1.4 meters high — tall enough for him to sit upright. And unlike many single-person apartments with so-called “unit baths” that combine a toilet and bathtub, Ito’s crib has separate rooms for a shower and high-tech bidet toilet.
“I looked at 10 apartments before deciding on this one,” he says.
More young people are leaning into the rental or sharing economy — owning less of everything and renting and sharing a whole lot more. Housing, cars, music, workspaces. In some places, such as Los Angeles, this rental life has gone to an extreme.
Steven T. Johnson, 27, works in social media advertising and lives in Hollywood. He spends most of his days using things he does not own.
He takes a ride-share service to get to the gym; he does not own a car. At the gym, he rents a locker. He uses the gym's laundry service because he does not own a washing machine.
Johnson doesn't even have an apartment, actually. He rents a bed in a large room with other people who rent beds, for nights, weeks or months at a time, through a service called PodShare. All the residents share a kitchen and bathrooms. Johnson also rents a desk at WeWork, a coworking space.
And he says the only clothes he owns are two versions of the same outfit.
Johnson says he owns so little that he has even been able to get rid of his backpack. "I gave that up two months ago," he says.
He says that for him, this lifestyle isn't cumbersome or confusing. "That's what's great," he says. "When you don't own things, you don't have to keep track of them. You just show up."
He's part of a newish group of young people. He is educated and owns his own business. He could be considered well off, but he is also, in a way, homeless. By choice.
Yeah, the thought of 200,000 in HK is just heartbreaking. I think that situation is not the same as the folks in Tokyo or NYC in the super small spaces. I'm curious what the real numbers are...
It's sort of shocking to think about these kinds of living situations as we, just two of us, get ready to (finally) move into a house that could comfortable accommodate a larger family.
On the subject of stuff, we do indeed have some stuff, Mr. SK works from home, so it doubles as workspace, and I hope to eventually have a grand piano. So those details make tiny living something we never want to do.... But that also points to our first-world privilege.
