“Tokyo Style (book Review)”, Barbara Thornburg1994-12-04 (design, Japanese art; backlinks)⁠:

But have you ever wondered how ordinary folk live? The cocktail attendants and department store employees, painters and construction workers, artists and designers? 38-year-old photographer and architectural writer Kyoichi Tsuzuki shot more than 100 Tokyo apartments of working men and women to create his tongue-in-cheek peek into their lives. The book, Tokyo Style, recently distributed in the United States through RAM Publications USA, offers images that are the antithesis of the restrained traditional Japanese interior we’ve come to expect, and are a lot more lively. Says Tsuzuki, “In the traditional Japanese house, everything was put away. In these Tokyo apartments, everything is out. You see people’s lives displayed.”

While many Japanese dream of having more space, most cannot afford to. A 1400-square-foot house in the Tokyo area costs $3.01^$1.3₁₉₉₄ million, while the average salaried worker makes $85,642.65^$37,000₁₉₉₄ a year. Instead, the Japanese have refined the art of living in small places. Tsuzuki dubs it “cockpit living” and extols its benefits. “You have everything at your fingertips—your food, CD, TV, computer—without leaving your bed.”…Neighborhood public baths, restaurants and coffeehouses furnish food and bathing, right outside your door. “It’s the opposite of L.A., where you have to drive everywhere”, Tsuzuki says.

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