Tokyo: A Certain Style

By: Tsuzuki, Kyoichi

Ah, think of the serene gardens, tatami mats, Zen-inspired decor, sliding doors, and shoji screens of the typical Japanese home. Think again. Tokyo: A Certain Style , the mini-sized decor book with a difference, shows how, for those living in one of the worlds most expensive and densely packed metropolises, closet-sized apartments stacked to the ceiling with gadgetry and CDs are the norm. Photographer Kyoichi Tsuzuki rode his scooter all over Tokyo snapping shots of how urban Japanese really live. Hundreds of photographs reveal the real Tokyo style: microapartments, mini and modular everything, rooms filled to the rafters with electronics, piles of books and clothes, clans of remote controls, collections of sundry objets all crammed into a space where every inch counts. Tsuzuki introduces each tiny crash pad with a brief text about who lives there, from artists and students to professionals and couples with children. His entertaining captions to the hundreds of photographs capture the spirit and ingenuity required to live in such small quarters. This fascinating, voyeuristic look at modern life comes in a chunky, pocket-sized format-the perfect coffee table book for people with really small apartments.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0811824233
• ISBN13: 9780811824231
• Release Date: September 1999
• Publisher: Chronicle Books
• Length: 440 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.3" x 5.9"
• Age Range: 13 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 8 to Postsecondary

Customer Reviews

A peek into real Japanese life

If you are interested in how most Japanese live, in their daily, ordinary lives, then pick this book up. It does not illustrate the "traditional" Japanses houses with Zen gardens and tatami mats everywhere, nor does it illustrate the "Ikea-ized" futuristic apartments of rich folks in Tokyo. Instead it shows how the other half (or make that 85%) of Japanese live: in a word, cramped. This book showcases real, average apartments and houses. Most of these dwellings are (relatively) tiny and crammed floor to cieling with STUFF. This book is interesting in that it shows how a person can literally cram their life into one or two tiny rooms and make it livable. For those interested in REAL Japanese daily culture, this book is a gold mine.

Perfect for chill out reading/viewing

I stumbled onto this book in of all places- Tower Records in Shibuya! I was looking for a unique photo book of Tokyo to take back to Toronto (and show everyone the "real" Tokyo), and it doesn't get much more unique (or real) than this book. It is both entertaining, and at the same time very informative. I have always enjoyed looking at how people live, and this is the perfect book to do this. It is perfect for the "coffe table", or anywhere that guests of your own home might be sitting around with nothing to do- a real conversation starter for sure. I highly recommend this one for anyone that is interested in the true way that Tokyoites live. I only wish the author could create a new version- "Tokyo Style TWOthousandfive"? Seen. -Rog

Gil

I stumbled across this little book one day while souting around at my local bookstore-I flipped thru the pages, and I was intrigued by the way the small spaces were used..I did not buy the book that day, and waited months before deciding to buy a copy. When I went looking, it was no where to be found, and I regret not buying it that day. then lo and behold, I was able to order it last week, picked it up this weekned and spent most of the evening scouring thru it. I spent time in Japan myself, and was amazed at how they efficiently use the little space available to them. It is true-How many of us live in cold minimalist empty shells devoid of the company of our treasured possessions? I would venture to say very few, and I would consder those folks very unlucky people, but that's how they chose to live, and I respect them. Give me my knicknacks, Kitsch, culled items from the curb, hi-fi systems, game consoles, books, and I am a happy man. Kyoichi, I know you are probably not reading this, but if you are, PLEASE write another book. You have a loyal follower in me...Gil

This Mess is a Place!

I love this book in so many ways. If you actually read the text it not only explains his concept on doing it but makes you look around and explains why you are happy sitting inside an apt that seems like a toybox. I have felt this way for a long time but wondered if this was my "shameful" little secret. I love to walk into a home that feels like LIFE goes on in it, artists collecting and creating inspirational things, musicians collecting objects that create and inspire sound, children can run in and live and breathe and not feel bad for wanting to be children. As beautiful as the homes you'd see in AD may be (and I DO love to look at them) they are like paintings on a wall- pretty but not alive, designed by a pro and not what the world is for the person inside. Its not piles of stuff in this book its great hints at who the people are living happily in a sprawling city. My only problem with this book is that there isn't a volume 2 on the East Village NYC- hey Tokyo isn't the only city with a certain style... Call me when you are in town I'll show you Kyoichi... :)

A Glimpse Inside Japanese Apartments

This a wonderful little book. Little in size not in page count, over 400 pages. The book shows the small accomodations that many tokyoites live in. Not only are the rooms small, but it seems as alomost everyone in this book has enough stuff for a home five times as big. My favorite chapter is titled mono ni kurumatte, which translates into monomaniacs basically people who are obsessive collectors. The sheer amount of books and CDs some of these people own will make your eyes bug out of your skull.