7 ms·

For those that prefer to reading versus video. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2019/04/20/lifestyle/tokyos-tiny-living-spaces/ https://www.japantimes.co.jp/li

For those that prefer to reading versus video. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2019/04/20/lifestyle/tokyos-tiny-living-spaces/ https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2019/04/20/lifestyle/tokyo... From the video, I laughed at the comments of hearing the other tenants. With my windows open in Sapporo Japan during the summer I can here conversations clearly. I think from the floor below, guessing it bounces off the next building which is but a couple meters away. I know every time the baby wakes wet. During the winter with double windows I don't hear as much but I do hear my neighbor belting out the songs in the shower. Like the commentator in the video, it does create a sense of connectivity. If he's happily singing in the shower then I'm happy for him and it makes me smile every time. However it makes me a little self conscious and I try to be quiet as possible. Also very surprised to see a guitar in the video. Most agencies will ask if you have instruments and likely deny or limit your apartment choices.

masklinn 7y ago
> Like the commentator in the video, it does create a sense of connectivity. And/or absolute hell for eg people with difficulty sleeping or early schedules. Also makes you realise how many weirdoes wear hard shoes and heels inside. Though I guess that’s less likely in Japan given the strong cultural separation between inside and outside.
- CydeWeys 7y ago
  Very unlikely in Japan.
- unforeseen9991 7y ago
  Ear plugs are an option for that, although I wonder if you can feel the vibrations... I recently stayed in a hotel that is right next to a very major highway, and they provided ear plugs for free.
- noir_lord 7y ago
  I've had insomnia most of my life and am an incredibly light sleeper (not helped by health issues) and the best thing I've found for cutting out background noise when it can't be avoided is silicone earplugs (the type you use for swimming), they are soft, pliable so easily inserted/removed and quickly warm up to body temperature so you forget they are installed (enough that I've made it to work a few times with them in).
  - borgel 7y ago
    Any recommendations?
    - noir_lord 7y ago
      https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bio-Ears-Silicone-EarPlugs-Protection/dp/B0013HGG0C https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bio-Ears-Silicone-EarPlugs-Protecti... I use these, they are big enough you can split one plug in half and use them for a few nights so I get a couple of weeks out of a box, own brand ones are no worse, boots in the uk does them at about half the price. Honestly though they are cheap at 5 times the price for a good nights sleep.
      - deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]
  - o10449366 7y ago
    I also have the same issues, but tinnitus on top which makes earplugs unusable for me as they amplify the condition. I've kind of resigned to my fate at this point.
  - closeparen 7y ago
    Earplugs are for hearing protection; they will cut damaging volumes down to merely loud, but not interfere with perception that much. What matters is the relationship of the signal to the noise floor, and masking is a lot more effective. A box fan works for me.
design-of-homes 7y ago
Few architects consider how easily sound can travel in residential buildings - from nearby buildings and closely-spaced balconies for example. Many apartment blocks have adjoining balconies with light partitions that do nothing to dampen sound. The result is having to listen to every neighbour above, below, to your left, and to the right. It's even worse when sound proofing is poor inside the apartment complex.
jedimastert 7y ago
> Most agencies will ask if you have instruments and likely deny or limit your apartment choices. I would absolutely lie if I were asked about it. I don't play any instruments in my apartment except a keyboard with headphones, but I do have a lot of instruments.
- h1d 7y ago
  That's your choice. If others complain about what is forbidden, you'll have to move out.
bilbo0s 7y ago
>Also very surprised to see a guitar in the video. Most agencies will ask if you have instruments and likely deny or limit your apartment choices... They did limit the guitar owner's choices. If you read it carefully it's saying she has to live in a soundproofed apt.
- gwern 7y ago
  Very Coasean. The agent who can most easily change the costs of a behavior internalizes it in a functioning market. Instead of neighbors being force to suffer the guitar playing, the effects are removed (via soundproofing) and the guitar player pays the premium.
fencepost 7y ago
The thing that really jumps at me is: don't get injured, disabled or just old. If you're going to have problems with ladders you're going to have problems living like this. On the other hand, some things that take a lot of space are easier to replace these days. Books? I have a lot but I'm not buying a lot of physical books these days. Video collections? How many DVDs have you bought in the past year? TVs are thin, headphones are common, no need for that big multimedia cabinet that used to hold a TV, stereo and media storage. This is also going to tend to push some people towards "third spaces" for socializing with friends. There's a very active Starbucks near me that's open until midnight, always packed, and which in addition to a bunch of tables full of laptops has several divided off areas with armchairs that regularly have small groups chatting.
- rolleiflex 7y ago
  Coffee shops being third spaces more than half a thousand years old, starting from coffee shops alongside the Bosphorus in Istanbul in 1400s, before it jumps to Italy via the merchants of Genoa and Venice. Coffee shop + armchairs you mention is also a time-honoured tradition: the TV show ‘Friends’ is effectively just a camera pinned to that armchair. It’s probably the most famous TV series in the whole western world. People don’t change all that much!
- qarlow 7y ago
  Things don't take up much space in themselves, activities do. What you lose when living smaller aren't the things themselves, but a kitchen were it is easy to cook healthy food, a kitchen table to discuss politics at or a workbench were you can leave your tools out. There isn't really much of a replacement for those spaces. While I do think some American concepts are outdated the idea of having capabilities in things like a larger home and a car wasn't unfounded. One of the best ways to not be part of something is simply to miss it. Having a lower standard of living is one easy way to do that. It tends to be hard to explain way things happen, but fairly easy to explain why they don't. People not having the time or space for them tends to be a common one. (Of course it is still always hard for people to accept). The 'next big thing' is unlikely to be created at starbucks. They will be created at kitchen tables and in garages and bedrooms like they always have been. Because that is where you don't have to ask anyone for permission.
MickerNews 7y ago
What shocks me is that you, aswell as the guy in the video say nothing negative about your plight. Is this seriously a society that you condone? Do you not see yourself as a victim of an extremist ideology?
- saxonslav 7y ago
  Who are you to decide how people live their own lives? Sure, if Japan started trying to fund apartment blocks of these places in your country, maybe you could get pissed. But if these people choose these lives, there's no need to label it as plight.
  - MickerNews 7y ago
    >Who are you to decide how people live their own lives? What a nonsense comment. I'm not "deciding how people live their lives". The people who are deciding how people live their lives are those in Japan renting out these places and voting for this lack of competent regulation. Who are they to do that? Who are you to support it? >Sure, if Japan started trying to fund apartment blocks of these places in your country How do you know which country I own? Maybe my country is Japan? >But if these people choose these lives You think people would choose this life if it wasn't their last resort? This is not a choice, it's desperation.
    - rubinelli 7y ago
      Those people would have a two or even three-hour commute otherwise. They chose to sacrifice space to save time and energy. Most workers wasting 10+ hours in a car or public transportation don't get to choose.
      - MickerNews 7y ago
        Yeah that much is obvious. The job is untenable unless it's commutable. Just move the job out of Tokyo instead of requiring such a ludicrous "sacrifice".
    - 7y ago
sbuccini 7y ago
How do you like living in Sapporo? I loved my time there through there but found it really hard to find anyone else doing tech. I even resorted to walking around the CS building at Hokkaido University just to see what was going on. Hoping to come back to Niseko this coming season if you want to meet up!

masklinn 7y ago

> Like the commentator in the video, it does create a sense of connectivity. And/or absolute hell for eg people with difficulty sleeping or early schedules. Also makes you realise how many weirdoes wear hard shoes and heels inside. Though I guess that’s less likely in Japan given the strong cultural separation between inside and outside.

CydeWeys 7y ago
Very unlikely in Japan.
unforeseen9991 7y ago
Ear plugs are an option for that, although I wonder if you can feel the vibrations... I recently stayed in a hotel that is right next to a very major highway, and they provided ear plugs for free.
noir_lord 7y ago
I've had insomnia most of my life and am an incredibly light sleeper (not helped by health issues) and the best thing I've found for cutting out background noise when it can't be avoided is silicone earplugs (the type you use for swimming), they are soft, pliable so easily inserted/removed and quickly warm up to body temperature so you forget they are installed (enough that I've made it to work a few times with them in).
- borgel 7y ago
  Any recommendations?
  - noir_lord 7y ago
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bio-Ears-Silicone-EarPlugs-Protection/dp/B0013HGG0C https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bio-Ears-Silicone-EarPlugs-Protecti... I use these, they are big enough you can split one plug in half and use them for a few nights so I get a couple of weeks out of a box, own brand ones are no worse, boots in the uk does them at about half the price. Honestly though they are cheap at 5 times the price for a good nights sleep.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
- o10449366 7y ago
  I also have the same issues, but tinnitus on top which makes earplugs unusable for me as they amplify the condition. I've kind of resigned to my fate at this point.
- closeparen 7y ago
  Earplugs are for hearing protection; they will cut damaging volumes down to merely loud, but not interfere with perception that much. What matters is the relationship of the signal to the noise floor, and masking is a lot more effective. A box fan works for me.

design-of-homes 7y ago

Few architects consider how easily sound can travel in residential buildings - from nearby buildings and closely-spaced balconies for example. Many apartment blocks have adjoining balconies with light partitions that do nothing to dampen sound. The result is having to listen to every neighbour above, below, to your left, and to the right. It's even worse when sound proofing is poor inside the apartment complex.

jedimastert 7y ago

> Most agencies will ask if you have instruments and likely deny or limit your apartment choices. I would absolutely lie if I were asked about it. I don't play any instruments in my apartment except a keyboard with headphones, but I do have a lot of instruments.

h1d 7y ago
That's your choice. If others complain about what is forbidden, you'll have to move out.

bilbo0s 7y ago

>Also very surprised to see a guitar in the video. Most agencies will ask if you have instruments and likely deny or limit your apartment choices... They did limit the guitar owner's choices. If you read it carefully it's saying she has to live in a soundproofed apt.

gwern 7y ago
Very Coasean. The agent who can most easily change the costs of a behavior internalizes it in a functioning market. Instead of neighbors being force to suffer the guitar playing, the effects are removed (via soundproofing) and the guitar player pays the premium.

fencepost 7y ago

The thing that really jumps at me is: don't get injured, disabled or just old. If you're going to have problems with ladders you're going to have problems living like this. On the other hand, some things that take a lot of space are easier to replace these days. Books? I have a lot but I'm not buying a lot of physical books these days. Video collections? How many DVDs have you bought in the past year? TVs are thin, headphones are common, no need for that big multimedia cabinet that used to hold a TV, stereo and media storage. This is also going to tend to push some people towards "third spaces" for socializing with friends. There's a very active Starbucks near me that's open until midnight, always packed, and which in addition to a bunch of tables full of laptops has several divided off areas with armchairs that regularly have small groups chatting.

rolleiflex 7y ago
Coffee shops being third spaces more than half a thousand years old, starting from coffee shops alongside the Bosphorus in Istanbul in 1400s, before it jumps to Italy via the merchants of Genoa and Venice. Coffee shop + armchairs you mention is also a time-honoured tradition: the TV show ‘Friends’ is effectively just a camera pinned to that armchair. It’s probably the most famous TV series in the whole western world. People don’t change all that much!
qarlow 7y ago
Things don't take up much space in themselves, activities do. What you lose when living smaller aren't the things themselves, but a kitchen were it is easy to cook healthy food, a kitchen table to discuss politics at or a workbench were you can leave your tools out. There isn't really much of a replacement for those spaces. While I do think some American concepts are outdated the idea of having capabilities in things like a larger home and a car wasn't unfounded. One of the best ways to not be part of something is simply to miss it. Having a lower standard of living is one easy way to do that. It tends to be hard to explain way things happen, but fairly easy to explain why they don't. People not having the time or space for them tends to be a common one. (Of course it is still always hard for people to accept). The 'next big thing' is unlikely to be created at starbucks. They will be created at kitchen tables and in garages and bedrooms like they always have been. Because that is where you don't have to ask anyone for permission.

MickerNews 7y ago

What shocks me is that you, aswell as the guy in the video say nothing negative about your plight. Is this seriously a society that you condone? Do you not see yourself as a victim of an extremist ideology?

saxonslav 7y ago
Who are you to decide how people live their own lives? Sure, if Japan started trying to fund apartment blocks of these places in your country, maybe you could get pissed. But if these people choose these lives, there's no need to label it as plight.
- MickerNews 7y ago
  >Who are you to decide how people live their own lives? What a nonsense comment. I'm not "deciding how people live their lives". The people who are deciding how people live their lives are those in Japan renting out these places and voting for this lack of competent regulation. Who are they to do that? Who are you to support it? >Sure, if Japan started trying to fund apartment blocks of these places in your country How do you know which country I own? Maybe my country is Japan? >But if these people choose these lives You think people would choose this life if it wasn't their last resort? This is not a choice, it's desperation.
  - rubinelli 7y ago
    Those people would have a two or even three-hour commute otherwise. They chose to sacrifice space to save time and energy. Most workers wasting 10+ hours in a car or public transportation don't get to choose.
    - MickerNews 7y ago
      Yeah that much is obvious. The job is untenable unless it's commutable. Just move the job out of Tokyo instead of requiring such a ludicrous "sacrifice".
  - 7y ago

sbuccini 7y ago

How do you like living in Sapporo? I loved my time there through there but found it really hard to find anyone else doing tech. I even resorted to walking around the CS building at Hokkaido University just to see what was going on. Hoping to come back to Niseko this coming season if you want to meet up!