Many avant-garde structures are small middle-class homes.
For a society that regards conformity as an important value, there are surprising number of Japanese who opt for homes that defy the cookie-cutter design.
Take for example, Tatsumi Terado and his wife Hanae (HOUSE T, by Hiroyuki Shinozaki) who lives in a house with no interior walls, hardly any barriers and some ladders to get around. The young couple call their house the Ninja -- because they need to be as nimble as one to go from one room to another.
"We feel we're getting in better shape these days," says Hanae Terado, extolling the benefits of all the climbing around the house. "But we never fall."
This is a house where our thoughts and inspirations take place.
CNN's On the Road series brings you a greater insight into the customs and culture of Japan. On TV and online CNN explores the places, the people and the passions unique to this Asian nation.
