In one of the most crowded countries in the world, space is a big issue. To put this into context, Japan is roughly the size of California, slightly larger than Great Britain, and only a little smaller than France. However, it has over double the population of the UK.

As such, innovation in storing everything from clothes to food is standard. Storage lockers are placed around the city, as are bike racks – and data storage is a large part of the country’s economy.

What can we learn from this though? Building small can be a sign of higher ambitions, and creating a small home can be an amazingly positive and creative act, one which can enhance life in surprising ways.

‘The Very Small Home’ by Azby Brown presents stunning design advances in Japan. Particular emphasis is given to what the author calls ‘the Big Idea’ – the overarching concept that does the most to make the house feel more spacious than it actually is. Among the Big Ideas introduced here are ingenious sources of natural light, well-thought-out atriums, snug but functional kitchens, unobtrusive partitions and free-flowing circulation paths.

This book puts the house designs in the context of lifestyle trends, and highlights their shared characteristics. For each project, the intentions of the designers and occupants are examined. The result is a very human sensibility that runs through the book. A glimpse of the dreams and aspirations that these unique homes represent and that belies their apparent modesty. The second half of the book is devoted to illustrating the special features in the homes, from clever storage and kitchen designs, to ingenious skylights and nooks.