0:00:08 > 0:00:11This is an ordinary Japanese home...
0:00:13 > 0:00:16..but every day it produces something extraordinary.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27I'd like to introduce you to my lunch.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29This is a bento box.
0:00:29 > 0:00:31Now, it's said that in Japan,
0:00:31 > 0:00:34you eat with your eyes. It's really, really important to appreciate
0:00:34 > 0:00:37the appearance of what you're about to consume.
0:00:37 > 0:00:41And, what's more, this bento box even carries meaning.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44Its theme is Japan's favourite season - spring.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47So, these little things are cut into the shape of cherry blossoms
0:00:47 > 0:00:50and there are a number of vegetables including this rape blossom
0:00:50 > 0:00:53that only come out in the springtime.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56So this little bento box is almost like a work of art.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58It's got technique, it's got form,
0:00:58 > 0:01:00it's got meaning, it's got symbolism,
0:01:00 > 0:01:02and it's almost too beautiful to eat.
0:01:07 > 0:01:12In Japan, much of domestic life is informed by aesthetics.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17The home itself can be a work of the imagination...
0:01:20 > 0:01:23..and many of the activities that take place inside it
0:01:23 > 0:01:26are performed with precision and grace.
0:01:32 > 0:01:34The modern world was thought to have destroyed
0:01:34 > 0:01:37the ancient Japanese art of life,
0:01:37 > 0:01:40but beauty still abounds...
0:01:43 > 0:01:47..as artists reinvent these old traditions for a new era.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52But the Japanese house has also influenced the West.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57It helped create modern architecture as we know it...
0:01:59 > 0:02:02..and transformed how many of us live today.
0:02:16 > 0:02:21Japan has a population of 127 million people.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30It is one of the most densely inhabited places in the world.
0:02:32 > 0:02:37And the vast majority of people live in endless cities, in small flats.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45But it wasn't always like this.
0:02:48 > 0:02:55100 years ago, 85% of Japan's population lived in the countryside,
0:02:55 > 0:02:57and they had done for centuries.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01Most of their rural homes are long gone.
0:03:06 > 0:03:08But a few remain.
0:03:13 > 0:03:18Miyama is one of Japan's last surviving traditional villages.
0:03:21 > 0:03:25And these are minka -
0:03:25 > 0:03:29vernacular houses once lived in by most of Japan's people.
0:03:32 > 0:03:34These minka might look rustic,
0:03:34 > 0:03:37but they're actually an amazing piece of technology,
0:03:37 > 0:03:40designed to combat the extremes of the Japanese climate.
0:03:40 > 0:03:44The thatched roofs are steep enough to wash away the heavy summer rains
0:03:44 > 0:03:46and the winter snows,
0:03:46 > 0:03:48and the buildings have been lifted off the ground
0:03:48 > 0:03:51to create as much ventilation as possible during the hotter
0:03:51 > 0:03:53and more humid months of the year.
0:03:56 > 0:04:00And Japan's geography even dictated the way they were built.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04One of the defining features of this village,
0:04:04 > 0:04:07and indeed much of Japan's traditional architecture,
0:04:07 > 0:04:09is the abundance of wood.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11It's absolutely everywhere.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13There are at least two reasons for that.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17The first reason is that wood is plentiful in Japan,
0:04:17 > 0:04:19while stone, which is mostly volcanic here,
0:04:19 > 0:04:21is too hard to build with.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24The second reason, and this is a little bit morbid I'm afraid,
0:04:24 > 0:04:27is that on the whole, wooden houses are safer.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30Yes, they're more likely to burn down,
0:04:30 > 0:04:33but they're less likely to crush their occupants
0:04:33 > 0:04:34in the event of an earthquake
0:04:34 > 0:04:37and easier to reassemble in its aftermath.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41But though Japan's traditional house builders took up woodworking
0:04:41 > 0:04:45for practical reasons, they very quickly turned it into an art form.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50In fact, Japanese craftspeople pioneered
0:04:50 > 0:04:54a consummate form of carpentry unequalled in the West.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01And were able to construct whole houses without screws,
0:05:01 > 0:05:02nails or glue.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06Just ingenious techniques.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15These techniques are still in use today...
0:05:17 > 0:05:21..here at Nakamura Yoshiyaki's workshop in Kyoto.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28Nakamura is one of Japan's most respected sukiya-daiku,
0:05:28 > 0:05:30or master carpenters.
0:05:34 > 0:05:35To become a sukiya-daiku,
0:05:35 > 0:05:40one must master a complex code, combining ethics and practicalities.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46It's even present in the way a carpenter uses his tools.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40Respect is a cornerstone of the sukiya-daiku's philosophy,
0:06:40 > 0:06:43and it also applies to materials.
0:06:43 > 0:06:47In Japan, wood is more than a commodity.
0:06:47 > 0:06:51According to Shinto, it comes from a living, even sacred organism,
0:06:51 > 0:06:54and has to be treated with reverence.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58Nakamura and his carpenters teach this philosophy to
0:07:58 > 0:08:00the younger generations.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04Each apprentice trains for five years.
0:08:07 > 0:08:09Through often menial tasks,
0:08:09 > 0:08:11they learn the correct attitude and techniques.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43In Japan, people talk a lot about the spirit of the shokunin,
0:08:43 > 0:08:46the spirit of the craftsman, or artisan,
0:08:46 > 0:08:51and that spirit is abundantly clear here in Mr Nakamura's workshop.
0:08:51 > 0:08:56The men are working with such precision and focus.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04They are measuring and re-measuring and re-measuring again
0:09:04 > 0:09:06to get everything just right.
0:09:07 > 0:09:09And perhaps most surprisingly of all,
0:09:09 > 0:09:11they are working in almost total silence.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14There's no chitchat, there are no jokes,
0:09:14 > 0:09:19there is unbelievable concentration on the work at hand.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23And I get a real sense here of a deference, of a pride,
0:09:23 > 0:09:27in belonging to a grand old tradition of carpentry
0:09:27 > 0:09:31and house-building that goes back way into the Japanese past.
0:09:40 > 0:09:45One of Japan's finest surviving homes can be found in Yokohama,
0:09:45 > 0:09:47on the outskirts of Tokyo.
0:09:51 > 0:09:53This is Rinshunkaku.
0:09:56 > 0:10:02It was built in 1649 by a samurai lord called Yorinobu Tokugawa.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09The owner's main residence was a fortified castle
0:10:09 > 0:10:12filled with armaments, but when he wasn't working,
0:10:12 > 0:10:15he'd come here to his fantasy home.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17This was his refuge,
0:10:17 > 0:10:21a place for contemplation and aesthetic reflection.
0:10:21 > 0:10:22But looking at it today,
0:10:22 > 0:10:26you know what I find most striking about it, is its modesty.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28At exactly the same time,
0:10:28 > 0:10:31European rulers were building these vast baroque palaces,
0:10:31 > 0:10:34and this, by contrast, is so humble.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40In fact, the only outward sign of extravagance is the second storey,
0:10:40 > 0:10:42which was almost unheard of in Japan at the time.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48It's clear where this house got its inspiration.
0:10:51 > 0:10:56The low eaves, the wood, the way it's raised up from the ground -
0:10:56 > 0:11:00it refers back to the minka of Japan's rural past.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04Refined and elaborated.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11But the real beauty lies inside.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20It is influenced by the simple aesthetic of Zen Buddhism.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25And it contains all the ingredients of
0:11:25 > 0:11:27the traditional Japanese interior.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36The rooms are open-plan and free from clutter.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41The exterior walls are shoji screens,
0:11:41 > 0:11:45whose paper surfaces infuse the home with soft otherworldly light.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51The floors are tatami,
0:11:51 > 0:11:56rice straw mats that dictate the size and proportions of every room.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02But the most important feature of this house is almost invisible.
0:12:04 > 0:12:09It is a unique Japanese concept known as ma.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16Ma is of fundamental importance to Japanese aesthetics,
0:12:16 > 0:12:18and its way of life.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21It refers to the negative spaces between things.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25The most obvious example of ma is silence.
0:12:25 > 0:12:26If I were to pause...
0:12:28 > 0:12:32..midway through this sentence, we might find it unsettling.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35But in Japanese thought, that gap, that interval,
0:12:35 > 0:12:38is just as full and just as full of meaning as
0:12:38 > 0:12:40the words that surround it.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44Now, ma appears in many Japanese art forms, it appears in painting
0:12:44 > 0:12:47and calligraphy, in drama and in martial arts,
0:12:47 > 0:12:50but it's also present in Japanese homes,
0:12:50 > 0:12:53and Rinshunkaku is full of it.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58Just look around
0:12:58 > 0:13:01and you'll find negative space everywhere.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14Rinshunkaku's floor plan is endlessly flexible.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26Partitions slide behind one another to open up the rooms.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33Even the outside walls are movable.
0:13:36 > 0:13:42The effect is one continuous space, and it extends even to the outdoors.
0:13:50 > 0:13:54Light, functional, versatile,
0:13:54 > 0:13:57Rinshunkaku is a lesson in domestic design.
0:14:02 > 0:14:06And houses like it have profoundly influenced modern architecture
0:14:06 > 0:14:09in the West, in the work of architects
0:14:09 > 0:14:12and designers like Frank Lloyd Wright...
0:14:14 > 0:14:18..Charles and Ray Eames...
0:14:18 > 0:14:20Walter Gropius...
0:14:20 > 0:14:22and Le Corbusier.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28When modernist architects and designers first encountered
0:14:28 > 0:14:32traditional Japanese houses, they were astonished.
0:14:32 > 0:14:36As far as they were concerned, this was modernist architecture
0:14:36 > 0:14:39that just happened to be hundreds of years old.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42And of course, today, open-plan living,
0:14:42 > 0:14:46minimalist interiors and clean, simple lines have become
0:14:46 > 0:14:49the very principles of 21st-century living,
0:14:49 > 0:14:55but those principles were pioneered centuries ago in houses like these.
0:15:01 > 0:15:03Amid all this minimalism,
0:15:03 > 0:15:08one place in the Japanese home was reserved for extravagance...
0:15:10 > 0:15:13..and was dedicated to decoration.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19It was known as the tokonoma.
0:15:24 > 0:15:26It might look like an empty recess,
0:15:26 > 0:15:30but this alcove was once the heart of the Japanese home.
0:15:30 > 0:15:32The owner of the property would sit here,
0:15:32 > 0:15:35and was therefore framed by his tokonoma.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38But his tokonoma would also be the stage set
0:15:38 > 0:15:41for some carefully selected objects.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48The tokonoma would include a scroll, often with calligraphy...
0:15:54 > 0:15:58..and it would be joined by a simple floral arrangement...
0:16:03 > 0:16:05..which had to be just so...
0:16:07 > 0:16:11..because this was an art form in its own right -
0:16:11 > 0:16:12ikebana.
0:16:22 > 0:16:26Many Japanese people are obsessed with flower arranging.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30Because ikebana is not only a hobby,
0:16:30 > 0:16:33but a highly personal form of expression.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09A popular art form of domestic life,
0:17:09 > 0:17:13there are over 1,000 ikebana schools in Japan today.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19But its origins lie in religion.
0:17:21 > 0:17:25It started here at Shiunzan Chohoji Temple in Kyoto.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30In the 15th century,
0:17:30 > 0:17:34it was the home of a Buddhist monk called Senkei Ikenobo.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44Ikenobo was responsible for arranging offerings to the Buddha...
0:17:47 > 0:17:50..and he was particularly enamoured of flowers.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56On 25th of February, 1462,
0:17:56 > 0:18:00Senkei Ikenobo made a very special flower arrangement.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02It was a complex freestanding construction
0:18:02 > 0:18:06of about a dozen different flowers in a golden vase,
0:18:06 > 0:18:08and it was replete with symbolism.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11Now, apparently it caused something of a stir.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14In fact, the people of Kyoto flocked to the temple
0:18:14 > 0:18:16simply in order to get a look at it.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22We don't know exactly what the flowers looked like,
0:18:22 > 0:18:25but Senkei Ikenobo did leave us some clues.
0:18:27 > 0:18:31This is a really quite special document.
0:18:31 > 0:18:37It's a five-metre long scroll that dates back to the 1480s, 1490s.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41And for years it was locked away and hidden away from sight.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44Its contents were known as the secret transmissions
0:18:44 > 0:18:47and were passed only from one master to the next.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51Even today, no-one is entirely sure of its exact meaning.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55But this part of the scroll seems to offer us a glimpse of
0:18:55 > 0:18:59the very earliest ikebana creations.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01They are, of course, beautiful drawings,
0:19:01 > 0:19:03and they're perfectly preserved,
0:19:03 > 0:19:05but what's so fascinating about them is
0:19:05 > 0:19:09the text around them reveals how each one of these arrangements
0:19:09 > 0:19:10served a different function
0:19:10 > 0:19:14and captured a different moment in people's lives.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17So, this one on the left is called a farewell flower.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20It's an arrangement you make when you're saying goodbye
0:19:20 > 0:19:23to a family member or a friend or a colleague.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26And this one on the right is pretty much the opposite.
0:19:26 > 0:19:28It's called a waiting flower,
0:19:28 > 0:19:30and it's something you make when
0:19:30 > 0:19:32you're waiting for a loved one to return.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34And this final arrangement,
0:19:34 > 0:19:38this was made to celebrate a young person becoming a monk.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42There is still much to be learned from this document,
0:19:42 > 0:19:44but I think it makes clear that
0:19:44 > 0:19:46ikebana was not simply flower arranging,
0:19:46 > 0:19:51it was a subtle and elusive medium that was all about expressing
0:19:51 > 0:19:54the joys and the hardships of life.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01And over 500 years of history,
0:20:01 > 0:20:05practitioners of ikebana have attempted to master it.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13This is Manabu Noda.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16He may look like a bank manager,
0:20:16 > 0:20:20but he is one of Japan's most respected ikebana masters.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25Students come to Ikenobo from around the world
0:20:25 > 0:20:28to see him work wonders with flowers.
0:22:37 > 0:22:41There are very specific guidelines about looking at ikebana.
0:22:41 > 0:22:46You position yourself here, one tatami mat back from the tokonoma,
0:22:46 > 0:22:49and it's very, very important that you are face-to-face with
0:22:49 > 0:22:53the arrangement. You can't be looking at it from the sides.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56Anyway, once you have your position, take a breath...
0:22:57 > 0:23:00..compose yourself and then you can begin to look.
0:23:00 > 0:23:04And you have to begin by looking at the very base of the arrangement.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07You're looking specifically at the point at which
0:23:07 > 0:23:10the plants first emerge from the water.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13Now, that's a really, really important part of ikebana.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16It's known as the mizugiwa, the water's edge,
0:23:16 > 0:23:19and that is the origin of life itself.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22Anyway, once you've meditated and reflected on that,
0:23:22 > 0:23:26then you begin to raise your head and follow the line of
0:23:26 > 0:23:29the plants upwards and upwards and upwards
0:23:29 > 0:23:32until you reach the very top.
0:23:36 > 0:23:39And when you reach the very top, take another breath...
0:23:41 > 0:23:43..and then you can begin to appreciate
0:23:43 > 0:23:45the arrangement in its entirety.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57It consists of three plants.
0:23:57 > 0:23:59Japanese iris...
0:24:00 > 0:24:04..spiraea and green maple.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08They've been chosen because of the season,
0:24:08 > 0:24:13reflecting a specific moment when late spring turns into early summer.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17The composition of this piece is absolutely fantastic.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20It's all about visual harmony,
0:24:20 > 0:24:22so there is harmony between the different colours,
0:24:22 > 0:24:24between the purples and the whites and the greens,
0:24:24 > 0:24:28there's harmony between straight lines and curves, and of course,
0:24:28 > 0:24:32there's also harmony between positive space and negative space,
0:24:32 > 0:24:36between the flowers and the ma that exists between them.
0:24:37 > 0:24:39This is known as a shoka arrangement.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42Now, shoka in Japanese means living flower.
0:24:42 > 0:24:47And this arrangement really does chart the life story of a flower.
0:24:47 > 0:24:48We see how at the beginning
0:24:48 > 0:24:51it emerges from the ground and shoots upwards
0:24:51 > 0:24:54and then gets affected and bent by the elements,
0:24:54 > 0:24:55by the wind and the rain,
0:24:55 > 0:24:58but it continues its journey nonetheless.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02So, there is a real sense of a life story taking place here,
0:25:02 > 0:25:05and I love this allusion to different stages in life.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08So two of the irises are blooming quite beautifully,
0:25:08 > 0:25:10but another one is still in bud.
0:25:10 > 0:25:12And in some ways that's even more important
0:25:12 > 0:25:15because that is about the future and is about hopes for the future.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18You know, I never thought I'd say this,
0:25:18 > 0:25:21but it really is quite moving to look at this arrangement
0:25:21 > 0:25:23because, while on the surface,
0:25:23 > 0:25:27it is all about the life story of a group of plants,
0:25:27 > 0:25:31it's impossible not to reflect on our own lives too.
0:25:31 > 0:25:35The journeys we have to make, the hardships we have to endure,
0:25:35 > 0:25:39and of course, the transience of life itself.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44Who would have thought that a group of flowers
0:25:44 > 0:25:46could contain so much meaning?
0:25:46 > 0:25:50But ikebana is not simply floristry.
0:25:50 > 0:25:54It is a domestic art form full of style and symbolism.
0:25:56 > 0:25:57And it's not alone.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00In the traditional Japanese tokonoma,
0:26:00 > 0:26:03ikebana is accompanied by a hanging scroll.
0:26:03 > 0:26:08This often contains another of Japan's great ancient art forms.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11Calligraphy, or shodo.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22Shinochooji is a quiet neighbourhood, not far from Kyoto.
0:26:25 > 0:26:27And this is the home of one of
0:26:27 > 0:26:30the rising stars of Japanese calligraphy.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41Every day, Tomoko Kawao practices for three or four hours,
0:26:41 > 0:26:45copying great works by history's shodo masters.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05To create each character, there's a set order of strokes.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10A pattern that hasn't changed for millennia.
0:29:07 > 0:29:11Tomoko is best known for her monumental works of calligraphy,
0:29:11 > 0:29:15and it is captivating to watch her make them.
0:31:45 > 0:31:49Tomoko's painting reads Shu-Ha-Ri,
0:31:49 > 0:31:54a traditional phrase which describes the stages of mastering a form.
0:31:54 > 0:31:59To learn, to break away and finally to transcend.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04This is such a dynamic image.
0:32:04 > 0:32:08It reminds me of a Jackson Pollock or a Franz Kline,
0:32:08 > 0:32:11and I love the variety of marks here.
0:32:11 > 0:32:15There are these big long swipes that are three or four feet long,
0:32:15 > 0:32:19there are spatters and there are paint trails
0:32:19 > 0:32:22and there are these droplets that seem to explode into a spray.
0:32:22 > 0:32:25And over there, there's a huge puddle of ink
0:32:25 > 0:32:27that hasn't even dried yet.
0:32:27 > 0:32:29It's amazingly exciting to look at,
0:32:29 > 0:32:31but this isn't simply about the image,
0:32:31 > 0:32:34it's about the action that produces the image.
0:32:34 > 0:32:36This is an art of the body.
0:32:36 > 0:32:39It's about discipline, about control, about movement.
0:32:42 > 0:32:46Calligraphy, of course, is an ancient art form, but in this room
0:32:46 > 0:32:49and on this paper, it couldn't be more alive.
0:32:58 > 0:33:01Today, most Japanese homes seem far removed from
0:33:01 > 0:33:03the country's graceful traditions.
0:33:06 > 0:33:09Everyday life may be ordered and peaceful,
0:33:09 > 0:33:11but it isn't particularly Japanese.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17Critics have claimed that people no longer care about
0:33:17 > 0:33:19preserving their native traditions.
0:33:26 > 0:33:28Here, at least, in Kyoto,
0:33:28 > 0:33:31there are signs that one of Japan's everyday art forms
0:33:31 > 0:33:33is still being embraced.
0:33:35 > 0:33:39The kimono, Japan's national costume.
0:33:41 > 0:33:43But these people aren't locals.
0:33:43 > 0:33:47They're mostly Asian tourists who've paid vast sums of money
0:33:47 > 0:33:50to play-act Japan's past.
0:33:57 > 0:34:01Over the past century, Japan has had to negotiate a tricky path.
0:34:04 > 0:34:07How to keep its heritage alive and relevant amidst
0:34:07 > 0:34:10the perpetual change of modern life.
0:34:18 > 0:34:20Since the 1950s,
0:34:20 > 0:34:23Japan's booming population transformed
0:34:23 > 0:34:25the way its citizens lived.
0:34:30 > 0:34:34It produced vast sprawling cities across the country,
0:34:34 > 0:34:37most of them formed without any planning to speak of.
0:34:41 > 0:34:45Much as we like to valorise the art of the Japanese home,
0:34:45 > 0:34:49Japan's rapid urbanisation in the 20th century has made domestic life
0:34:49 > 0:34:51extremely challenging.
0:34:51 > 0:34:56In Tokyo, more than 6,000 people inhabit every square kilometre.
0:34:56 > 0:34:59And this has led to homes becoming smaller,
0:34:59 > 0:35:01precisely as they become more expensive.
0:35:01 > 0:35:04Barely a month goes by without a story appearing in the press
0:35:04 > 0:35:07about young Tokyo workers living in apartments
0:35:07 > 0:35:10that aren't much larger than coffins.
0:35:16 > 0:35:21Incredibly, the average Japanese home now only lasts for 30 years.
0:35:25 > 0:35:28Inheritance tax is so high that it's often cheaper to bulldoze
0:35:28 > 0:35:31the family home and start again.
0:35:38 > 0:35:42The relentless rebuilding of Japan in the post-war years
0:35:42 > 0:35:45has produced vast swathes of awful architecture
0:35:45 > 0:35:47and some really horrible homes,
0:35:47 > 0:35:50but it's also created opportunities.
0:35:50 > 0:35:52There are more architects per capita in Japan
0:35:52 > 0:35:55than in any other country in the world.
0:35:55 > 0:35:57And because of relaxed planning regulations
0:35:57 > 0:35:59and severely limited space,
0:35:59 > 0:36:02these architects have been able to take creative risks
0:36:02 > 0:36:04that aren't always possible elsewhere.
0:36:14 > 0:36:19And the humble home has become the ground zero of experimentation.
0:36:25 > 0:36:29All sharp edges, repeated forms and concrete walls.
0:36:34 > 0:36:38Even in the most sleepy neighbourhood, you'll stumble upon
0:36:38 > 0:36:41houses that seem to have crash-landed from the future.
0:36:44 > 0:36:47Or at least from some postmodernist textbook.
0:36:49 > 0:36:53Some have no windows, and others, no walls.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57But there is method in this madness.
0:36:59 > 0:37:03Japanese cities can be aggressively ugly and messy places.
0:37:03 > 0:37:05And modern houses like this one are, I think,
0:37:05 > 0:37:07part of a fight against that.
0:37:07 > 0:37:11They're an attempt to make spaces that are beautiful and ordered
0:37:11 > 0:37:14and peaceful amid the seemingly endless
0:37:14 > 0:37:16urban chaos that surrounds them.
0:37:19 > 0:37:24They are, in many respects, a return to the ancient lessons of Zen,
0:37:24 > 0:37:27but crossbred with modern minimalism.
0:37:28 > 0:37:33In fact, what we might call zenimalism has become a trademark
0:37:33 > 0:37:38of Japan's most famous architects like Tadao Ando...
0:37:38 > 0:37:39Toyo Ito...
0:37:42 > 0:37:43..and Kengo Kuma.
0:37:45 > 0:37:51They have established zenimalism as a major national style of architecture,
0:37:51 > 0:37:54and exported it to the rich and famous around the world.
0:37:58 > 0:38:03But though zenimalism began with the rich, it soon reached everyone else.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08A number of companies began to commercialise the new aesthetic...
0:38:09 > 0:38:13..packaging Japanese minimalism for the mass market.
0:38:15 > 0:38:18And the most successful of them all was Muji.
0:38:22 > 0:38:28Since 1980, Muji has been turning Zen into an off-the-peg commodity.
0:38:29 > 0:38:33This high street nirvana proved exceptionally successful.
0:38:35 > 0:38:38The company is now worth more than 2 billion,
0:38:38 > 0:38:42and has nearly 700 stores around the world.
0:38:43 > 0:38:50Its famous name is an abbreviation of mujirushi, which means no brand,
0:38:50 > 0:38:53yet image is what Muji is all about.
0:38:56 > 0:39:00Its shops are decorated like luxury spas.
0:39:00 > 0:39:03Pointless appliances are deceptively functional...
0:39:04 > 0:39:07..and products have clean lines and plain colours.
0:39:11 > 0:39:13The whole thing seems modern and international...
0:39:17 > 0:39:21..but there are nods everywhere to ancient Japanese aesthetics.
0:39:24 > 0:39:29This is a revealing example of the Muji aesthetic.
0:39:29 > 0:39:30A bag of stones.
0:39:30 > 0:39:32Now, there's nothing fancy about it.
0:39:32 > 0:39:35The stones themselves are perfectly unremarkable,
0:39:35 > 0:39:38and the packaging is almost comically restrained.
0:39:38 > 0:39:40No logo, no poetic description,
0:39:40 > 0:39:42just stone written in Japanese
0:39:42 > 0:39:45and then of course underneath in English.
0:39:45 > 0:39:48But though at first it seems like such a simple product,
0:39:48 > 0:39:51it is in fact full of references.
0:39:51 > 0:39:53It taps into these great old Japanese ideas about
0:39:53 > 0:39:57the mysteries of nature, about modesty and imperfection.
0:39:57 > 0:40:01And of course, when you arrange these stones in a bowl in your home,
0:40:01 > 0:40:03you are continuing a tradition that goes all the way back
0:40:03 > 0:40:07to the great Zen rock gardens of the past.
0:40:11 > 0:40:13In much of its advertising,
0:40:13 > 0:40:18Muji offers up a timeless vision of the Land Of The Rising Sun.
0:40:18 > 0:40:22It also offers to bring the beauty of Zen into your home,
0:40:22 > 0:40:24provided you purchase its products.
0:40:26 > 0:40:30Many of us think that Muji epitomises the Japanese aesthetic,
0:40:30 > 0:40:33that it's the product of an entire people
0:40:33 > 0:40:37who miraculously understand that less is more.
0:40:37 > 0:40:39But Muji isn't the real Japan,
0:40:39 > 0:40:41just like IKEA isn't the real Sweden
0:40:41 > 0:40:43and Laura Ashley isn't the real Britain.
0:40:48 > 0:40:51The real Japan is anything but Zen.
0:40:54 > 0:40:56It's a place of urban clutter,
0:40:56 > 0:40:58exposed power cables
0:40:58 > 0:41:00and small, messy homes.
0:41:04 > 0:41:06To understand these homes,
0:41:06 > 0:41:09I've come to an apartment block in the heart of Tokyo
0:41:09 > 0:41:11and to one of the great chroniclers
0:41:11 > 0:41:15and champions of contemporary Japanese life.
0:41:20 > 0:41:23Like half of all Tokyo dwellers,
0:41:23 > 0:41:26photographer and journalist Kyoichi Tsuzuki
0:41:26 > 0:41:29lives in a single-person apartment,
0:41:29 > 0:41:32where one space is used for several different functions -
0:41:32 > 0:41:36living, working and sleeping.
0:41:39 > 0:41:41Not to mention storage.
0:41:44 > 0:41:47But Kyoichi is one of the lucky ones.
0:41:47 > 0:41:51It's not uncommon for a family of four to live in a space this size.
0:41:52 > 0:41:56It's a long way from the fantasy adverts of Muji.
0:41:58 > 0:42:02When a lot of Western people in particular think of Japanese homes,
0:42:02 > 0:42:04they think of tatami mats...
0:42:04 > 0:42:06- Yeah.- ..and shoji screen and Zen and minimalism.
0:42:06 > 0:42:09- Yeah.- What do you think about that conception?
0:42:11 > 0:42:13It's quite a bit embarrassing, I think, no?
0:42:13 > 0:42:17It's just because we think of British lifestyle is like
0:42:17 > 0:42:20Downton Abbey or something, you know.
0:42:20 > 0:42:23So, it's not real at all.
0:42:23 > 0:42:25Fake news, you know?
0:42:25 > 0:42:26- Fake news.- Yeah.
0:42:30 > 0:42:31For over 25 years,
0:42:31 > 0:42:34Kyoichi has been tirelessly documenting
0:42:34 > 0:42:36the homes of Tokyo's youth.
0:42:37 > 0:42:41Until recently, no-one talks about...
0:42:42 > 0:42:45..normal people, normal life.
0:42:48 > 0:42:54In Tokyo today, the average size of an apartment is 60 square metres,
0:42:54 > 0:42:57the equivalent of 36 tatami mats.
0:42:57 > 0:43:01For example, you know, this is a typical...
0:43:01 > 0:43:04Tokyo apartment...
0:43:04 > 0:43:07- like you... - So, is this all one apartment?
0:43:07 > 0:43:08Yeah, it's all one apartment.
0:43:08 > 0:43:12Do you remember the person who lived here? Was it a student or...?
0:43:12 > 0:43:16He was a... He was a young, cartoon, manga artist.
0:43:16 > 0:43:20You know, whenever I go to those apartments, I just tell them,
0:43:20 > 0:43:23don't try to clean up, you know.
0:43:23 > 0:43:26I want to see as you live.
0:43:26 > 0:43:30- Yes.- I feel like I'm showing like a dark outside of Tokyo.
0:43:33 > 0:43:37In his seminal 1993 book, Tokyo: A Certain Style,
0:43:37 > 0:43:41Kyoichi photographed portraits of 100 people,
0:43:41 > 0:43:44not by capturing their faces, but their flats.
0:43:46 > 0:43:50In doing so, he documented the lives of ordinary city dwellers
0:43:50 > 0:43:52who'd been largely ignored.
0:43:54 > 0:43:57This is a house...
0:43:57 > 0:44:02of a guy who is a music critic.
0:44:02 > 0:44:04You go into a small path,
0:44:04 > 0:44:10and there's a really old Japanese-style house, you know.
0:44:10 > 0:44:12- Really cheap.- Wow!
0:44:12 > 0:44:14- Look at that.- Yeah.- Oh, my gosh!
0:44:14 > 0:44:17- So...- He needs some more shelves, doesn't he?
0:44:17 > 0:44:19I know, I know.
0:44:19 > 0:44:21The shelving is already full, you know...
0:44:21 > 0:44:26- Yeah.- So, he has to just pile his new CDs all the time, no?
0:44:26 > 0:44:27But, what...?
0:44:27 > 0:44:30What's going to happen when he needs, like, this one,
0:44:30 > 0:44:32and he has to grab the bottom one?
0:44:38 > 0:44:39You talk about empty space.
0:44:39 > 0:44:41There's that word - ma.
0:44:41 > 0:44:43Ma. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:44:43 > 0:44:45You didn't see much of it in your travels.
0:44:45 > 0:44:47No, no.
0:44:47 > 0:44:50There's no space for ma, I think.
0:44:50 > 0:44:53- No space for space. - No space for space, exactly.
0:44:55 > 0:44:57To traditional critics,
0:44:57 > 0:45:02these homes epitomised all that was wrong with modern Japanese life.
0:45:04 > 0:45:08We forget that Zen attitude or philosophy
0:45:08 > 0:45:11and we lost our classic aesthetics and everything,
0:45:11 > 0:45:16so it was so negative point of view towards...
0:45:16 > 0:45:20modern life, and I wanted to change that.
0:45:22 > 0:45:24I met a young DJ wannabe.
0:45:24 > 0:45:28He lives in that four and a half tatami room.
0:45:28 > 0:45:30So, this is all one room?
0:45:30 > 0:45:32Yeah, yeah. Three metres squared.
0:45:32 > 0:45:34That's his...? The entire floor space would be...?
0:45:34 > 0:45:38One metre. But, you know, there is a famous saying in Zen,
0:45:38 > 0:45:43that you need only a half tatami to meditate.
0:45:44 > 0:45:47Only one tatami to sleep,
0:45:47 > 0:45:50so more than that is just a luxury.
0:45:54 > 0:45:58Kyoichi's work documents a fascinating urban phenomenon.
0:45:58 > 0:46:01Within the confines of tiny spaces,
0:46:01 > 0:46:03people have found remarkable freedom.
0:46:04 > 0:46:08Plundering East and West, old and new,
0:46:08 > 0:46:12their magpie aesthetic has produced a style that both is
0:46:12 > 0:46:16and isn't Japanese, and seems genuinely democratic.
0:46:18 > 0:46:23I mean, going into a rich people's place is not interesting at all, no?
0:46:23 > 0:46:26Because it's Zen, it's not their lifestyle,
0:46:26 > 0:46:28it's a decorator's lifestyle, no?
0:46:28 > 0:46:31Or a architect's lifestyle.
0:46:31 > 0:46:36Because minimalism is to hide your personality, so I was...
0:46:36 > 0:46:41I was really into going to, you know, poor kids' apartments
0:46:41 > 0:46:44because let's show us their lifestyle.
0:46:45 > 0:46:47There's no closet, no?
0:46:47 > 0:46:51So you see the wall, you know, you see what they are wearing.
0:46:57 > 0:47:04Small places is a representation of people's life.
0:47:04 > 0:47:06Everyday life, I think.
0:47:14 > 0:47:16In the course of my journey,
0:47:16 > 0:47:19I've discovered different types of Japanese home.
0:47:21 > 0:47:26Traditional and modern, minimalist and maximalist.
0:47:26 > 0:47:29But in a remote and mountainous part of Nagano,
0:47:29 > 0:47:34one architect is building houses like no-one else.
0:47:34 > 0:47:37His name is Terunobu Fujimori.
0:47:38 > 0:47:41Fujimori isn't a conventional architect.
0:47:41 > 0:47:45In fact, he only started designing buildings in his 40s,
0:47:45 > 0:47:50and he runs his practice, if we can call it a practice, like few others.
0:47:50 > 0:47:54For years, many of his projects were completed not by professionals,
0:47:54 > 0:47:57but by a gaggle of friends, including a novelist,
0:47:57 > 0:48:00a sake brewer, a publisher, and a priest.
0:48:00 > 0:48:03Now, it might sound like the start of a bad joke,
0:48:03 > 0:48:06but the results, when they came, were spectacular.
0:48:12 > 0:48:15On a small patch of land behind his house
0:48:15 > 0:48:17is one of his most bizarre creations.
0:48:24 > 0:48:27This is the flying mud boathouse.
0:48:28 > 0:48:30Oh!
0:48:31 > 0:48:34One of Fujimori's fantastical teahouses.
0:48:37 > 0:48:38Wow!
0:48:38 > 0:48:40- So cosy in here!- Yeah, yeah, yeah!
0:48:42 > 0:48:43Oh.
0:48:45 > 0:48:47- This is great.- Good.
0:48:48 > 0:48:50- Have a cup of tea.- Yeah.
0:48:53 > 0:48:56This bowl is my favourite.
0:48:56 > 0:48:58- This is your favourite? - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:49:00 > 0:49:01- Please.- I get the...
0:49:01 > 0:49:04- I get your favourite?- Yeah, yeah. - Oh, thank you very much!
0:49:10 > 0:49:12- Delicious.- Delicious.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15- Very strong.- Yeah, too strong!
0:49:18 > 0:49:20Fujimori's style may be eccentric,
0:49:20 > 0:49:23but it's grounded in some of Japan's oldest beliefs.
0:50:02 > 0:50:03Growing up in the countryside,
0:50:03 > 0:50:08Fujimori spent his childhood tending the trees in the nearby forest,
0:50:08 > 0:50:11but the trees provided more than timber.
0:50:13 > 0:50:15Childhood baseball.
0:50:15 > 0:50:16The ball and the bat.
0:50:27 > 0:50:29One, two, three.
0:50:32 > 0:50:33Oh, no!
0:50:35 > 0:50:38When Fujimori grew up, he didn't become an architect,
0:50:38 > 0:50:41but an eminent architectural historian.
0:50:42 > 0:50:46He might never have built a thing, but in 1989,
0:50:46 > 0:50:50he was asked by the people of his village to design a museum,
0:50:50 > 0:50:52dedicated to an ancient Shinto shrine.
0:51:17 > 0:51:20Inspired by the region's natural surroundings,
0:51:20 > 0:51:24Fujimori wanted to channel Japan's prehistoric past.
0:51:45 > 0:51:48His first building left most people baffled.
0:52:04 > 0:52:06But there were some sympathisers.
0:52:08 > 0:52:13Young architects of his generation, like Toyo Ito and Tadao Ando.
0:52:26 > 0:52:28Commissions weren't forthcoming,
0:52:28 > 0:52:33so Fujimori designed a spectacular house for himself.
0:52:57 > 0:53:01Dandelion House was the first in a series of buildings
0:53:01 > 0:53:03sprouting all manner of plant life.
0:53:05 > 0:53:06Leeks.
0:53:08 > 0:53:10Grass.
0:53:12 > 0:53:13Even trees.
0:53:17 > 0:53:19With these buildings,
0:53:19 > 0:53:23Fujimori hoped to bring nature back into Japanese homes.
0:54:22 > 0:54:25But Fujimori has created a high-rise of his own...
0:54:28 > 0:54:31..though it looks like it was dreamed up by Lewis Carroll
0:54:31 > 0:54:32or Studio Ghibli.
0:54:36 > 0:54:39This is the Too High Teahouse.
0:54:43 > 0:54:49Only 2.2 metres wide, this is a house on a truly human scale.
0:54:56 > 0:54:58The gilded lantern in the ceiling
0:54:58 > 0:55:01turns the whole place golden at sunset.
0:55:10 > 0:55:13And the window overlooks his beloved hometown
0:55:13 > 0:55:16and his first work of architecture.
0:55:24 > 0:55:27Though this building belongs to a great Japanese tradition,
0:55:27 > 0:55:32it taps into something far more universal and far more human.
0:55:32 > 0:55:34And I love how personal this building is.
0:55:34 > 0:55:39I love the fact that it was tailored to the size of Fujimori's own body.
0:55:39 > 0:55:42I love the fact that he built it with his friends.
0:55:42 > 0:55:43And I love the fact that,
0:55:43 > 0:55:46as you look out over the various views around it,
0:55:46 > 0:55:49you can see the mountains that he loved so much.
0:55:49 > 0:55:50You can see his family home,
0:55:50 > 0:55:52the plot of land on which he was born.
0:55:55 > 0:55:57Though this building is small,
0:55:57 > 0:55:59it encapsulates so much of Fujimori's life.
0:56:03 > 0:56:06You know, climbing up here and crawling inside
0:56:06 > 0:56:08was like a return to childhood.
0:56:08 > 0:56:10It was like a regression to the womb.
0:56:10 > 0:56:13And I think Fujimori is reminding us that,
0:56:13 > 0:56:18for all of our talk of houses and apartments and palaces,
0:56:18 > 0:56:21for all of our talk of modernism and minimalism,
0:56:21 > 0:56:25and for all those aspirations we have about additional bedrooms
0:56:25 > 0:56:29and ensuite bathrooms, that ultimately, and originally,
0:56:29 > 0:56:32a home is a place of shelter.
0:56:32 > 0:56:36It's about making a safe haven to call one's own.
0:56:44 > 0:56:48This series has explored Japan's rich and complex culture.
0:56:49 > 0:56:52A culture that has been shaped by the outside world,
0:56:52 > 0:56:54but is unlike any other.
0:56:57 > 0:56:59In the process,
0:56:59 > 0:57:02I've seen exceptional works of art, from its old masterpieces...
0:57:04 > 0:57:06..to its modern installations.
0:57:07 > 0:57:12Its tranquil gardens, to its exuberant art forms.
0:57:13 > 0:57:15But in the course of my travels,
0:57:15 > 0:57:18I've found art in more than just artworks.
0:57:20 > 0:57:22I've found beauty in landscapes...
0:57:23 > 0:57:25..the seasons...
0:57:26 > 0:57:28..in people's homes,
0:57:28 > 0:57:32and above all, in their lives.
0:57:32 > 0:57:36One of the things I've noticed here over and over again is
0:57:36 > 0:57:39the artfulness of people.
0:57:39 > 0:57:44There's a precision and elegance in so much of what they do.
0:57:44 > 0:57:47Japan, of course, is a complex and challenging place,
0:57:47 > 0:57:49and not all of it is beautiful,
0:57:49 > 0:57:54but it does seem to me to be a culture that has, for centuries,
0:57:54 > 0:57:59cared profoundly about detail, about getting the little things right,
0:57:59 > 0:58:02and that is why, even in the most ordinary places,
0:58:02 > 0:58:04beauty can usually be found.