Spoon & Tamago - japanese art, design and culture

MUJI has been in the homebuilding business for 15 years, unveiling a new prefabricated home roughly every 5 years. And their latest is unlike any home they’ve designed in the past. Their previous line-up, which consisted of 3 homes, were predominantly focused on urban living where space comes at a premium and the only reasonable solution is to build up. Yo no Ie, or Sun House, is the company’s first single-story home designed for suburban use.

Yo no Ie is designed with an open layout and expansive patio that easily serves as an extension to the living room. The durable, energy-efficient home incorporates passive solar principles and high-quality materials.

The thinking behind the pivot to suburban sprawl is two-fold. MUJI, who has 30 model homes across Japan and sells roughly 300 prefabricated homes per year, heard from their customers that a single-story home would be of interest, especially in regions such as Kyushu where space is more abundant.

In addition, the company believes that there is a growing working class who will spend their week in Tokyo, or another major city, but will then prefer to take their weekends somewhere quieter, slower.

Outside of major cities, land in Japan can be surprisingly cheap. And there is younger generation that will be inheriting the land owned by their parents. MUJI will build Yo no Ie on your plot of land for 16 million yen (about $145,000 USD). If you’d like to give the home a test drive, it’s currently available to rent for 7150 yen ($68 usd) / night.