The south-facing street elevation; the interior is protected from the gaze of passersby. The artificial-wood fence along the street is angled so that sunlight and air can more easily reach the kitchen garden.
When viewed from the front or from the gate on the right, the angled fence makes it difficult for passersby to see through.
The approach is finished with irregularly shaped quartz stone paving. The first-floor exterior walls are clad in cedar boards, and the same cedar boards are applied to the steel entrance door so that it appears integrated with the wall.
There is no significant change in floor level from the road to the entrance, allowing for smooth access.
The entrance floor is finished with Towada stone. The shoe-free area has knot-free Japanese cypress flooring, with tatami laid in part of the space. The walls are finished with diatomaceous earth plaster. A desk has been incorporated into part of the built-in furniture, providing a place for guests to do a little writing.
A hand-washing area is provided at the entrance. The wooden towel rack was handmade by the owner. The mosaic tiles in the splash zone are Hirata Tile Smart, installed in a mixed pattern.
The dining area has a void approximately 5 meters high. The raised-floor Japanese-style room is on the right and the kitchen is on the left. The floor is finished with solid chestnut flooring.
Looking from the dining area beneath the void toward the Japanese-style room with the irori.
The raised-floor Japanese-style room can also serve as a guest room and can be closed off with four fusuma screens. On the right is an air-conditioning unit that uses the underfloor space to warm the first-floor surface.
A table-style irori hearth (Irori Kobo) has been installed in a recessed floor space designed like a traditional sunken kotatsu, with seating for four to six people. The family enjoys grilling and eating fish caught by the owner and vegetables grown in the kitchen garden around the irori with family and close friends.
Opening the front yukimi shoji facing the covered veranda reveals the greenery of the kitchen garden.
The floor post is made of rusted Japanese cypress logs; the otoshikake lintel is solid red cedar with a three-sided hand-hewn finish; the floor boards are solid Japanese cypress; and the black bamboo used for the coffered ceiling were all selected together with the owner at a lumber shop in Shinkiba. The walls are finished with diatomaceous earth plaster, custom-mixed in green and white and applied with a dragged trowel finish. The fusuma paper for the closet is Edo karakami S-895 (Tokyo Matsuya).
The yukimi shoji screens are designed with a low eye level. The vertical slats of the artificial-wood fence along the street also help protect privacy inside.
The Japanese-style room is filled with the soft light filtering through the shoji screens. A Buddhist altar will be placed in the wall opening at the center.
Looking toward the kitchen from the dining area. Daylight enters throughout the day through the skylight in the ceiling.
The kitchen, designed to the owner's exacting specifications, is a custom kitchen by YAJIMA. The countertop is ceramic stone (DEKTON: Kelya), and the door panels are melamine-faced decorative plywood with a stone-like finish.
At the back right are a standard three-burner cooktop and a high-output burner (ASCO), so the range hood is a 1,200-millimeter-wide Ariafina by Fuji Industrial. Beneath the wooden grille visible at the back is a booster circulation fan (Kyoritsu Airtech) that draws into the room the warm air accumulated beneath the floor after being heated by the dining area's air conditioner. Opening the underfloor access hatch also reveals a docking station for a cleaning robot that automatically cleans beneath the floor.
From the kitchen, there is a clear view through to the Japanese-style room and the kitchen garden, as well as to the second-floor exercise room.
The bedroom has a sloping ceiling that follows the shape of the roof. The built-in closet is on the left.
When the shoji screens at the front are opened, a lush green view comes into sight, extending beyond the busy road in front of the house.
A staircase connects the split levels.
The second-floor corridor faces the void above the dining area. The floor at the back, raised by 40 centimeters, is the owner's exercise room; the wife's hobby room is on the right.
The wife's hobby room faces the void. A desk is placed in front of the interior window.
Opening the sliding door to the hobby room's storage reveals a hidden-room-like storeroom accessed by a box staircase.
Through the interior window, the view extends into the distance, while light also enters from the skylight.
The exercise room provides access to the covered balcony. The nagoshi on the left wall is used when making fishing rigs for the owner's fishing hobby, among other things.
The floor is finished with solid Japanese cypress flooring with knots, and the owner's hobby room can be seen through the opening to the void.
At the owner's strong request, the washroom and changing room has been finished with tatami mats. These are washable tatami mats (Kiyoraka / Kyokuto Sanki), the type used in ryokan inns and similar establishments. The entrance to the room can be seen in the back right.
A large window was installed in the bathroom, allowing the occupants to bathe while enjoying the feel of the sunlight.
The balcony parapet screens the interior from outside views.
The covered area is also used for hanging laundry. The exercise room is on the left; when its window is opened, the floor is at a convenient height for sitting.
Looking from the balcony entrance toward the washroom and changing room. A television mounted on the wall on the changing-room side can be watched while bathing.
The high window above the void is fitted with a privacy film that blocks views depending on the viewing angle (Vision Control Film Z-2555, opaque in both directions / Yamahira), preventing the neighboring house's windows from being distracting.
Looking up at the ceiling above the void. The ceiling fan is cleaned from the second-floor corridor.
The steel fire shutter is fitted with a movable shelving unit at the back for fishing equipment, while a sliding service entrance door with a large refrigerator can be seen beyond. In the left foreground is a sink for cleaning and filleting the fish caught by the owner.
An enclosed garage is located on the north side facing the road, approximately 1.4 meters lower than the entrance side.