For Some in Japan, Home Is a Tiny Plastic Bunk

[mia]

“It’s just a place to crawl into and sleep,” he said, rolling his neck and stroking his black suit — one of just two he owns after discarding the rest of his wardrobe for lack of space. “You get used to it.”

When Capsule Hotel Shinjuku 510 opened nearly two decades ago, Japan was just beginning to pull back from its bubble economy, and the hotel’s tiny plastic cubicles offered a night’s refuge to salarymen who had missed the last train home.

Now, Hotel Shinjuku 510’s capsules, no larger than 6 1/2 feet long by 5 feet wide, and not tall enough to stand up in, have become an affordable option for some people with nowhere else to go as Japan endures its worst recession since World War II.

Once-booming exporters laid off workers en masse in 2009 as the global economic crisis pushed down demand. Many of the newly unemployed, forced from their company-sponsored housing or unable to make rent, have become homeless.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/02/business/global/02capsule.html?hp


It's interesting to see how other countries deal with homelessness.

[Walk away]

1. Every once and a while I think how simple life would be...

(and cheap and green) if I lived in one of those tiny 12' X 12' houses. Just dust bust the whole house out once a week and house guests wave through the window and move right on. I can see the up side. A tube is going a little too far but if the dogs could learn to sit and stay it might work.

[mia]

2. I've been looking at the small house movement too -

just not that small. I'm working on minimizing my things though.

[murray hill farm]

3. If you are interested in small housing,

check out this great site. http:/www.tinyhouseblog.com It was my inspiration to build my own. Mine is 12x30 with a seperate 8x12 cook/laundry house seperated from the main building by a 12x12 deck. I would post pics if i could figure out how, but probably not tonight. anyway...check out the tinyhouse site.

[mia]

4. Congratulations! Would love to see your photos.

This Yahoo group is a good source of information too.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smallhousesocietyonline/