Customer Reviews

Tokyo: A Certain Style

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

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... :)

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

If you are like me and like house porn, this book is a must flip-through. This book features contemporary Tokyo urbanites and suburbanites living in small spaces. It was inspirational to look at both the "messy", "organized", and in between spaces. It's a shame there aren't more books on this topic.

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.

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

If you are like me, you find the things that people collect in their homes fascinating. Contrary to the general perception of Japanese style, this book documents a series of apartments so cluttered that, in general, there seems little space for the owners of all these belongings. It's a question of scale: these are tiny spaces, with little in the way of closet space, amenities, or obvious organization. But they *are* organized, with a fascinating eye for collections, repetitious imagery, and an innovative way of demarcating living zones where space hardly exists.

I liked the format of this book. It's tiny, like the residences it documents, and groups the photographs as a series of miniature vignettes of life as it is being lived, and documented, through both everyday and special objects. Typically, many houses feature pop culture-inspired ornaments as well as miscellaneous personal collections, clothing, utensils, and sleeping arrangements, and most seem to have been shot as they are, not as an editor might wish them to be. Incredibly, an ascetic style is acheived in a few of these dwellings, not by a spare decor, but by muted and monochromatic arrangements. Cluttered spaces can, it seems, feel tranquil. There are some incredibly hectic rooms, of course, which seem almost nightmarishly cramped and technicoloured, but these fascinate through the sheer proliferation of objects. I found a real sense of fetishism in many of these dwellings: a love of the material that invests these spaces with value and nostalgia. A great collection.

I, for one, am all in favor of stuff. My own, my best friend's, my second cousin's, and even (especially) an anonymous Japanese surfer's. It's interesting. That's why I enjoy this book so much. It's almost like a "Where's Waldo? - Japanese Interior Edition." These apartments are loaded with an amazing assortment of kitsch, electronics, albums, etc. It's a visual adventure. What kind of fascinating items will I find in each picture? It's great...but it's not for everyone, as other reviewers have noted. In fairness, I do agree with those who felt the book is filled with nothing but pictures of stuff and how to cram it into very small apartments. Also, the photography is utilitarian, not "see how magical this space is." So, if you are looking for a "House Beautiful" type book, this isn't it. This is the how-NOT-to book, if anything. But if you're intrigued by the things that other people collect, enjoy, and live with, this is a book to add to YOUR stuff.

In Tokyo rents are high and space is at a premium. This fun little book of photos documents how the average Tokyo citizen makes the most of his/her cramped (often one room, no private bath) apartment. Some methods of space saving/storage are ingenious, some apartments are an absuloute mess. Finally, a whole city that lives like me! This book is small and crammed with photos, a deliberate echo of squeezing as much stuff as possible into a tiny space? Fun to read and look through, but it won't cure the slob in your life--it will only encourage them!

The simple statistic that the Tokyo metro area harbours 20 million souls doesn't, by itself, invoke much more in the imagination than a few old films and a sprawling, hazy skyline.

But this book makes it real - the crushing impact of too many people cramped together in tiny spaces, with possessions forcing their way into all nooks and crannies

The introduction likens the comfortable Tokyo apartment to a cockpit, with access to every vital need and comfort within easy reach. This is not a book for claustrophobics!