In the labyrinthine back streets of Tokyo stands an odd geometric structure that looks nothing like the houses surrounding it. With its vertical wood siding, imposing oblong form and almost total lack of windows, it looks like an artwork, or a mini fortress. Appropriately enough, it’s called The Keep. And it’s designed as a home.

Past its sliding front door, the interior is small and spartan. There’s no furniture, only three windows and a skylight. Two floors are separated by translucent grating. Its modern conveniences include an induction stove, a shower and one air-conditioner. A ladder reaches a lofted sleeping area.

Shigeru Suzuki, a real estate agent, built this unique abode in Tokyo’s Asagaya district both as a second home and as a kind of showroom for a revived architectural trend, known as kyosho jutaku, that prizes compact homes.

ImageShigeru Suzuki built his house in Tokyo both as a residence and as a showroom of sorts for the surging tiny-home trend in Japan. Mr. Suzuki installed a ladder to a lofted sleeping area. Two levels are separated by translucent grating.Image

With some of the most densely populated cities in the world, the Japanese are old hands at living in close quarters. From the spread of nagaya tenements and machiya townhouses in the Edo period (1603-1867) to postwar “barrack” tenements, danchi apartment complexes and capsule hotels, Japan has long used innovative designs and multipurpose rooms to make the most of limited space on its archipelago.

Tiny houses can be a more individualistic spin on this tradition. These days, they’re also a response to economic and social changes. With its low birthrate and shrinking population, Japan doesn’t need as many homes to fit large families. One result has been more subdivisions of larger lots to expand the market of affordable homes. Some younger workers in Tokyo are snapping up tiny houses because they don’t want to spend hours each day commuting from cheaper cities outside the capital.

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