Tokyo: A Certain Style [Paperback]

Kyoichi Tsuzuki (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1999

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.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

It's common for Americans to stereotype the Japanese as conformist, rigidly organized, and immaculately tidy, but with Tokyo: A Certain Style Kyoichi Tsuzuki makes remarkable progress toward broadening those impressions. Tsuzuki photographed the very lived-in interiors of numerous Tokyo houses and apartments, and then jammed his piles of pictures into the format of a short-of-stature book. The result is an engrossing look at the many ways people have adapted to Tokyo's notoriously cramped living spaces. There are several common threads--indoor clotheslines are used to supplement or replace closet space in almost every home--but each dwelling brings out its owner's personality. Some are breathtakingly cluttered, with bric-a-brac piled on electronic equipment and papers stacked on every flat surface, while others show so little evidence of the debris of daily living that one feels certain sorcery must be involved. Most charming are the "design" elements that show off the owners' little quirks: ingeniously improvised hooks and shelves, major appliances banished to the outdoors, and the extensive stuffed animal collection of a grown adult. Many photos simply boggle the mind with the sheer amount of stuff that can be crammed into incredibly small spaces, while others highlight the strange beauty that is often achieved in compressed living. Highly recommended for dorm-bound college students or anyone who has ever groused about a lack of space. --Ali Davis

Review

An indispensable resource for quality-conscious visitors who don t want to blow their budgets.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 440 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (September 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811824233
• ISBN-13: 978-0811824231
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #776,711 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Glimpse Inside Japanese Apartments, September 13, 2001

By 

Daitokuji31 (Black Glass) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Tokyo: A Certain Style (Paperback)

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.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Mess is a Place!, September 1, 2003

By 

Bratzworld.TV "snowflakebebe" (New York City!) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tokyo: A Certain Style (Paperback)

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... :)

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for chill out reading/viewing, October 24, 2004

By 

Rog (Toronto) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tokyo: A Certain Style (Paperback)

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