I don't think it gets any crazier than this... *BUT WOULD YOU LIVE HERE?* Let me know what you thought and join the discussion below!! *So Crazy, You Gotta Watch It TWICE!* (gets better... and crazier every time lol) For the FULL PLAYLIST of TINY Apartments - th-cam.com/video/y-1Dwhh7dEc/w-d-xo.html I waited nearly a year to get into this one!! Hope you all enjoyed it!!
Another great video! I wouldn't live in one like this, mainly because of the stairs and the noise. The only things you'd be able to fit up those stairs would be really quite small. What a hassle all the time! And to not have one's own toilet to hand - that's far from ideal. I bet the residents end up peeing in the shower/bath instead, if they need to 'go' in the night.
I think i could manage in the most of the others. I think this one is hard sell though. The trip to the bathroom is a sticking point for me. We all need a good throne room 😁
3:59 I think the closet space would have been more usable if it were installed on the ground rather than on the ceiling. Because then you could sleep on top of it, roll up your mat and have counter space for your toiletries, kitchen utensils etc. And then you can even open one of the cabinets to use as a desk space to put a chair under as you work!
That unit looks more "renovated" than the 5th floor. The 5th floor has a different layout. The old modular Cube building is a little bigger. But yeah, good idea.
The bit at the end where you looked at the abandoned apartment, the broken door on the hinge is giving me a person escaping the tiny apartment cause they couldn't take it anymore vibes lol.
I was thinking someone had a medical emergency and they had to break in to get them out. Then I started wondering how the hell you'd get someone who was incapacitated down those stairs? A stretcher is not gonna fit. They'd have an easier time going out the window.
These sort of places make me appreciate my own home that I find too small sometimes. There's no way I could live in a place that small it would drive me insane.
@@Aly9315 I live in a 900 sq.ft. apartment with my partner and it often feels too big. I think your size is the best for two people as long as you have great communication 😅. If I were living alone I think the perfect size would be 500. Less space = quicker to clean!
As someone who is on the taller side, it really bothers me when I have to duck under low things. Many older homes in the US have basements with low ceilings. If I can't stand up straight in the entire basement, then that's a deal breaker for me.
Judging by the mess on floor 5, the low rent and the fact that this definitely isn't someone's first choice in apartment, I can imagine the people living there could be a bit troubled. Hope everyone is OK, though. Especially the room 5 one, if it's not just abandoned
Yup. Mental health issues and people on the edge of society came to mind when Norm said he was told not to talk to residents. The top-floor mess confirmed it in my mind.
Yeah... I thought that might be so, too. It's not as if they could say "Please avoid them because floor 5 is a junkie, 3 is an ex-con etc." would probably significantly decrease interest. Or maybe its just that they don't want him knowing that they all have a little waiver in their contracts about concussions and the staircase.
In America we have something called, ‘section 8’ where people need to prove extreme poverty and or craziness. I think the latter is why you were warned not to talk to the other tenants. An I think the place on the 5th floor confirms that.
I hate to say it, but the combination of a cagey “just don’t talk with the residents,” an unoccupied apartment filled with trash, and a door off its hinge means one thing to me: #5's resident was almost certainly an elderly shut-in who sadly won’t be returning.
Every time I watch these videos I always come out having a bigger appreciation for the house I'm in now. It's one floor, 2 bedroom, pretty small but man, it's like a mansion compared to these apartments😂
I have 32m² here (British suburban council flat) and though it's taken me *years* to learn to be comfortable with what I have, seeing videos like this makes me realise how lucky I am compared to folks in other parts of the World. 😇
Wow this seems extremely soul-crushing. I don't think it'd even be fine just for sleeping, I'd feel too claustrophobic. Can't imagine what living in a tiny place like that felt like during covid.
Really love how you've shown the "living" room from multiple perspective and truly drove the point that the camera lens doesn't do justice to the real dimensions. It really kicked my brain into overdrive trying to imagine how being there would feel.
@bekindtoanimals2189 2000 Sq ft. That's a really decent size. Most houses on average are 1500 to maybe 2000. I think our mobile home is just at around 1000. Maybe a little more. If you were to say 200 than Oh my Force yes, very small
As a first responder, I can’t help but think of the insane challenges here. Like getting a person who went down for any reason in the bedroom and needs to be carried out to an ambulance. Those stairs are brutal. Fire wouldn’t be able to get into this place with gear on. Similar to issue one, people die. Getting them out will be a real bitch, especially if it was a heart attack in the cramped bathroom or something… you can’t just toss them from the window lol
I think the easiest way would be to wrap them up on a gurney/stretcher, and lower them out of the window via some fire truck's ladders. However, there are tons of power lines (some of which medium voltage) all around the building. Still, i've seen my local fire dept do that for a much more approachable town house. Apparently it was worth getting the firemen's cherry picker out, just to get someone out of the attic of a town/row house.
Wow! Gotta say the tiny apartments aren't my favorite subject, but I really appreciated how you used the perspective shots to really show how truly minuscule this place is! I wonder if the arched things over the windows once had fabric awnings that eventually got too tattered and weren't replaced.
1:24 the fact he waited a year for someone’s rent lease to end just to be able to do a video on this… I have genuine upmost respect for his dedication to his content.
@@ArnoldLarsen90 if you like it then power to you 👍. To me it feels dangerous and exposed, and having to go into that crazy stairwell every time you need the bathroom would be awful. I’d only live there if I literally had no other choice and just needed a place to crash at night.
Of all the tiny/micro apartment videos you've done, this is perhaps the first that would actually trigger claustrophobia for me which is uncommon... and I'm 5'6" albeit stocky.
I'm about to go live in Osaka and I managed to get the same rent for a fairly "normal" tiny apartment, incredible how the price goes up with location even with such drawbacks! Honestly it would be a fun challenge to figure out how to stay for a couple months in those miniscule rooms, since it's essentially going to be a bed and a roof, and then anything else you do outside to not go crazy
I lived near Osaka 5 years ago, my 18sq apartment was 36k a month with pretty much everything you'd need to live normally, the bus stop right in front of the building, and this rent was still considered pretty high for the area. So yeah, hearing that this place is 40k and it's cheap is crazy.
I moved out for college recently and got a dorm with 2 other people and was pretty unhappy with how little room me and my roommates have to share but putting our dorm next to the room shown in this video makes our room look like a 5-star hotel lmao
Honestly, I think this building is a masterpiece of engineering and design. I would live there for sure! To fit that much in a space that narrow is truly impressive, and that main room is definitely still livable by Japanese standards. Also, I love the happy vibe that comes from the bright colours and natural light. That said, the toilet room being out of the unit isn't the best.
Serious question: how do you get furniture in there? A chair? On those stairs? A desk to work at? Heck- I feel like it would even be problematic to bring in a lamp! 😅❤
You would have thin cushions and sit on the floor, probably at a low table with folding legs. With either a twin bed, or a futon that you put away. Basically every inexpensive Japanese apartment.
While the rooms are small and oddly-shaped, what actually bothered me was the building itself. I’m sure it’s safe, but yikes that thing looks like it would tip over in a storm. It’s so thin!
For $250 a month, a person could rent a storage space, set it up like a small apt. I used to work graveyard shift with a guy who did that for about a year to save his money. It was perfect for him because nobody bothered him at all during the day. Then he would just work all night, run to the gym ìn the morning to get a workout and shower, had a porta potty in his unit, and a small generator for power. When he first told me, I felt so bad for him. But one day he asked me if I wanted to check it out. I was blown away at how he had it set up in there. He had a bed , big screen TV, a gaming set up, his clothes hanging neatly, a small cooking station, 5gal jug of water etc. It may not be a great situation for everyone. But he sure made it work for himself. I thought it was pretty smart, honestly.
The little orange cover on the balcony is likely for a climbing plant. You can see a little hook in the corner where you'd hang a flowerpot for the plant to grow out of, and you can attatch the feelers to the bars with twine to encourage it to grow a little natural roof for the balcony.
What’s better than a camper van video? A tiny apartment video! Honestly, these are some of my favourite videos of yours, Norm! I guess that there is even a toilet is good.
I don't think this place is somewhere you use for much more than studying or sleeping. On the other hand, if you were a hikikomori (a shut in who spends their lives online) or something, your mental health is already not good and this place has the basics? I feel if I was young and didn't have a family this could be a place I could rent for a lease term.
@@dawnriddler great that’s your preference! I did have a roommate but I didnt have to take a dump in a hot box triangle toilet that’s placed in a stairwell where my neighbors are walking by hearing me go #2. I had my own bathroom and shower and that’s very important to me. Cooking in this unit would be close to impossible there is no where to prepare food and the stovetop is nearly nonexistent. Also I’m 6’2 so that bathroom would be a nightmare. I can tell you would prefer this place, good for you. Just leave it at that.
As a 6'4 guy I have lived in a 5m2 room. It was so small that I would go outside and walk the streets going absolutely nowhere because the tiny space was making me depressed. No wonder the Japanese work such crazy hours, you would rather be at work than in that claustrophobic nightmare.
The room itself is probably tolerable. Maybe investing in noise cancelling earbuds might alleviate the noise issue at night, if there is any. The toilet space and stairs are probably a deal breaker for me. I can see myself missing a step and the toilet space is a little too cramped. Credit where it's due, they were able to do a lot with so little space, but I wouldn't be able to.
I know this is a “feel-good” channel but this is the first tiny-apartment video that actually made me depressed. I really feel for people being forced to live like this.
Bruh.. i'm pretty sure it was made intentionally for people like me who likes cozy tight spaces... though our house is kinda big, i would love to live in that kind of apartment... there are people who loves tight spaces, specially cavers...
@@nightking4132 yeah, you’re right, this has nothing to do with a housing problem and an overcrowded city, it’s definitely purposefully build for cavers!
My usual guess when you're told not to approach or talk to the residents is that the landlord may not have a good reputation. Or if they do, there may be something else with the apartments that they're not telling you. So it's usually to save face or to not scare away potential tenants.
Or that the resident might be a hermit and wouldn’t like a guy with a camera around their space. Especially when the camera person isn’t Japanese themselves.
The headspace is what really kills me about it, I would probably hit my head alot, other then that it would be a interesting challenge to live in and decorate! I say that as someone who essentially renovated a shed into a livable space.
I'd stay for a few days, but I don't think I can stay there for longer than that. Gotta admire how they were able to put together several apartment units in such a small piece of land.
Junji Ito can put this in his manga and it couldn't be more fitting. (cause it's cramped, get it?) Anyway, this is literally one of his visions for horror story.
Love the tiny apartment series! The architect of this apartment definitely has full of playful spirit. I was fascinated by not only the shape of building but also a lot of small details of it such as the center silver poll of the stairs, color choice of the exteriors(stands out so much!), the location choice of the bathroom etc! It's in Tokyo, I would love to check it out with my own eyes too!😆✨
My biggest issue with the apartment is that I have to leave the apartment to go to the toilet, as someone who does everything they can to avoid my neighbours having to risk meeting them every time sounds awful, or if they go past as I'm sitting there.
i imagine your neighbors would understand that if youre in the stairwell, theres a good chance you need to use the restroom, and would leave you alone. from what i understand the japanese are already pretty introverted/private with strangers anyways. could be wrong about that though.
Chris: *makes a "tiny apartment" video with mostly decent sized apartments* Norm: "Challenge accepted!" I would go crazy living there, and unless you're taller than me I'd barely fit in the door. But it would be neat to just rent it for a short stay.
I get, where y'all are coming from, but recent cases showed the adverse effect. In spain, there was a district on a hill, where every house was only a single story high (story = level?). They've been mostly built at around the same time. Seismic activities in the area caused regular damages, so two story high buildings easily collapsed. One guy thought, he wanted to stick out. He built a larger house 3 stories high. The concerns regarding the regular quakes made him build it rather flat for that height, starting from a comparatively lower level. (entry at sub-surface-level) Similar to the building here (seemingly), the enhanced walls made it the only one in the region to survive an unprecedented intensity of said seismic activity. So we can guess all we want: it's appearance will not tell us the actual chances for that. It may be completely misleading to guess, here! The house itself doesn't look old to me, so you can believe that they had a decent permit to build like this.
A fire in this tiny apartment would be catastrophic. Imagine how fast the entire apartment gets burnt down and how slowl can you escape from that apartment with those tiny stairs and no emergency staircase.
Thanks. I'm stuck in the refrigerator of the even tinier apartment next door and called him several times for help. Now I know why he can't hear my calls. Would someone please ask him to come over and pry me out? This vlog was uploaded eleven months ago and I'm practically starved to death in the refrigerator by now.
Coming from an artistic standpoint, I love it. It’s a creative use of space, functional, and quirky. Coming from a logical standpoint….nope. It reminds me sort of like a treehouse because of the weird spaces, but yet oddly cozy. However, those stairs would be my demise. All it would take is one morning in a rush without my coffee and I’d be done for lol.
I don't even see how a place like this is legal. That's why we have building regulations in the u.s. Just him stepping out on the balcony was terrifying. This apt is too dangerous. 😮
Never realized how much luxury I get as an American living in a room 3 times the size of that entire apartment... amazing video and well shot, can't wait to see more!!
While filling out his insurance form he was undecided on how to explain why he decided to put his iPhone in a refrigerator while viewing a property and forgot about it.
@@TokyoLens I half freaked out when you did not film getting it back. just kept repeating, don't forget your phone a few times until I realized that I was doing that. I'm paranoid about loosing my phone, or wallet or keys.
with me being claustrophobic, this video is giving me ALL the anxiety I would freak out with just that staircase alone. I've seen NY tiny apartments which were cool to me but this is just extreme 😂😭
@@verdatumI cannot sit in that toilet baked my sun heat and toilet smell. I would die. So not just stairs. No ventilation in toilet and he started sweating in just a minute.
I would take this over the $100/month apt, but still a tough situation to live in with that toilet and the stairs. Norm, your Tiny Apt series and the Pet Detective videos are my favorites! Thank you for creating such unique, fun videos. The Pet Detective one especially was so heartwarming.
I always felt like my room is too small and wished I have a bigger space for my closet but seeing all these small apartments just made me realize how lucky I am to even have a room. Lol
That cute "cover thing" you like over the balcony window is probably for hanging clothes to dry. Tenants could also probably attach a canvas tarp to it if they want shade from sun and/or rain.
Just my two cents on why they detered you from talking to the tenants. But i think in general, Japanese people like to keep their private life a secret. Especially so when things are rough. Even though the house itself is famous, and widely known, people that are better off would not decide to live there (or the 100$ apartments). So the most likely scenario is that those that live in the cheap apartments are down on their luck, and wants to be anonymous.
Yeah, i thought so too. The apartment on the fifth floor clearly belonged to a person with some issues. These are not apartments for people with a good salary and a loving family. These are for lonely, poor people .
Absolutely this - I wouldn't want people like old friends or family or just people in general to see how spectacularly bad my life had become . This looks like a novelty to some younger viewers, but this is someone's actual home.
I’m claustrophobic and this is the definition of purgatory for me. Even watching you going inside, gives me anxiety and sheer fright. I feel so sorry for the people who have to live in a brutally tiny place like this.
The toilet space is actually pretty genius design. Since the space is so small, keeping potential unpleasant smells across the stairs and separated by two doors probably does a lot to keep things pleasant.
Our baby's closet is so much bigger than the largest room. Do people actually accept this as a place to live? It's like a doll house for a 5- or 7-year-old.
I'm 5'1 so the short doors and shower likely wouldn't be an issue for me, but the stairs are a big area of concern for me. There are specific proportions stairs need to be in order to be conventionally safe to go down and those do not look like they're big enough.
I'm a truck driver in the United States and I've driven a truck with a "Legacy Sleeper" that had 3× the room that that apartment has! With a full bathroom, a full size bed, full size fridge, stove, sink and living room with a fold up dining table. It also has its own "apu" (auxiliary power unit) so u don't have to idle the trucks engine as much and it runs all things that require electrical power. They are stupid expensive though but if u decide to make truckin ur whole life then it's worth the investment.
I actually might if i were to be in the area, the biggest concern I have watching though is that in seasons of earthquakes, how in the world is that building staying up? It looks like it would just topple over like a domino. 😅
those who've served in the coast guard/ navy and who worked in ships can agree with me on this that this apartment is just as cramped or even more cramped than living in a ship. I think I like the tiny apartment with multiple floors inhabited by that cute girl. I can't imagine living normal life in such a cramped space. great find Norm, I wonder if there's anything smaller than this in Japan. My idea is since the country is a disaster-prone place, I think shipping containers turned into apartments would make good homes.
@@AnthonyStJames-yn8nr cost a lot and inefficient. There are already videos debunking this. Containers are not made for human living in the first place. So with all the effort and money going into making it livable, might as well go for a real home.
I was in the Marines, deployed on Navy ships twice. Hated living on the ships. Those coffin racks are miserable but we all find a way to make it our own for the time on ship. I would much rather take this apartment over being back in a berthing with 40+ Marines, stacked 3-4 high again.
This is such an interesting one. It's a shame the top floor looks like that, hope they get it fixed up. Honestly the fact that it is horribly ventilated/noisy is one of the biggest downsides imo. That and the laundry situation. I do wonder about the general safety aspects though. How resistant it is to wind shear, earthquakes, etc. And how the general building maintenance is for the places you don't see.
The problem is most likely the walls are too thin, in an effort to make up for as much floorspace as possible. The windows are huge letting in hot light. To cool the place down in the summer you can use the same technique people use to keep cars cool, by putting reflective window covers up. To make it quieter, you could buy some noise canceling foam and line the glass doors in particular. It's definitely a space you'd have to have a minimalistic lifestyle in.
I love that someone in Japan made the world's largest candy corn and turned it into an apartment and that you made a video about it and released it in October 🎃
@@ariesmry well shiiiet. . . and we all know how bad these Japanese companies work newbies to the bone. We might not actually see her again for a long time.
I think that possibly abandoned apartment answers your question on why you probably shouldn't approach the residents. I suspect a lot of the people that live in these apartments are not in a good place in their lives.
Honestly this doesnt seem TOO bad to me compared to other micro apartments, id totally live there if I could. The space is way too small but having big windows and a tiny balcony/veranda does help. Only complaint is the toilet... yikes...
I'd bring a portable fan when using the toilet. I'd also have a chamber pot to use at night when I need to pee because climbing those stairs while half asleep can be dangerous.
I lived in a micro apartments and this place doesn’t look that bad. What surprised me was the rent!!!! $260 usd a month? My hometown has a places just a little bigger than this going for $950 usd. God bless Japan.
i adore this and wish i lived there, you talk about it like its barely any space but its almost double the amount of space i currently live in, its an incredibly charming place, i wish more countries did things like this, i wish there was more places like this, the view from there is amazing and i love it. so inspiring. the noisiness is actually a pleasurable thing, as small spaces are a nightmare to live in when they are dead quiet, its kind of ironic, but having a small space to live in when its noisy outside makes it feel less lonely and less small.
Pure insanity. There isn't even space for a toilet. I would last 2 days before I jumped in front of a train. My master bedroom, closet and master bathroom are more than triple the size of this apartment. This place is only a slight upgrade to having no shelter.
Love it! I started rearranging furniture in my head immediately! The closet area would be a great place for a projector screen. Sitting on a futon with a mug of tea, a cozy, little dream. Being 5’2” and probably part hobbit also helps. Thanks again for sparking my creativity! Take care!
I think the bigger question about the living space (if you even really want to call it that) would be how would you even get anything up there to begin with? Norm is a pretty slim dude and even he had trouble just climbing the stairs without holding onto the beam in the middle so imagine trying to carry practically anything up them. You'd almost have to somehow rig like a pulley system with the hooks for the wash line on the balcony to get your stuff up there.
I’d imagine there are moving companies in Japan that use cranes to hoist furniture through windows. It’s pretty common practice in countries with lots of mid-rise buildings.
Everything you buy has to be flat-packed and assembled yourself up there. Maybe a few exceptional things could be brought in via the window. Exceptional mostly because I suspect the windows might be smaller than they appear on video.
You don't. You sleep on a futon, sit on a cushion, and don't bother buying furniture. Everything you bring in, is something you can roll up or carry in a bag. You live a minimalist lifestyle.
a long time ago I watched a video about "japan's death cleaners" and that trashed apartment looks exactly like one of those apartment where an elderly lived alone (this is the only space he could afford) and died in, after becoming too ill to even take the trash out and had no one to ask for help from.
Would rather live in a tiny apartment than to not be able to afford an apartment at all. Japan does it the right way while the US regulates poor people into homelessness.
That entire apartment is the size of my living room! I can't imagine living in such a tiny space. It was claustrophobic just watching you open that bathroom door. The lack of privacy and space in the bathroom, plus those scary stairs make it not worth it, even for $267 USD per month. Nope!
I don't think it gets any crazier than this... *BUT WOULD YOU LIVE HERE?* Let me know what you thought and join the discussion below!!
*So Crazy, You Gotta Watch It TWICE!* (gets better... and crazier every time lol)
For the FULL PLAYLIST of TINY Apartments - th-cam.com/video/y-1Dwhh7dEc/w-d-xo.html
I waited nearly a year to get into this one!! Hope you all enjoyed it!!
Would I live there - yes, right up until becoming aware that the top floor unit is abandoned. After that, hard no.
Another great video! I wouldn't live in one like this, mainly because of the stairs and the noise. The only things you'd be able to fit up those stairs would be really quite small. What a hassle all the time! And to not have one's own toilet to hand - that's far from ideal. I bet the residents end up peeing in the shower/bath instead, if they need to 'go' in the night.
I just can't see myself fitting into that small space. 😂
I think i could manage in the most of the others. I think this one is hard sell though. The trip to the bathroom is a sticking point for me. We all need a good throne room 😁
Awesome!
3:59 I think the closet space would have been more usable if it were installed on the ground rather than on the ceiling. Because then you could sleep on top of it, roll up your mat and have counter space for your toiletries, kitchen utensils etc. And then you can even open one of the cabinets to use as a desk space to put a chair under as you work!
That's a genuinely great idea.
@@Tcgaming67 Thanks! I play a lot of the Sims 4 so I guess that's where it came from
That unit looks more "renovated" than the 5th floor. The 5th floor has a different layout. The old modular Cube building is a little bigger. But yeah, good idea.
I thought of maybe using 1/2 the closet to sleep in and the other half for clothes etc. I like your idea though.
Gotta open up your own home and apartment construction company 😊
This is one of the few tiny apartments that gets a “nope” from me. I feel like I’d be perpetually bruised from hitting things.
hahaha a very fair response~
Agreed. I don't think I would fit in the toilet.
Thinking the same thing. 😅
it also just looks generally dirty.
@@saoliath5000 Maybe that's why they didn't want him to talk to the tenants?
Never gotten claustrophobia from a video before. Thanks, man. Really an experience.
It made feel uncomfortable AF too watching this, just the single thought of being there triggers my anxiety to the top .
I can't breathe!!! help😮
same. holy fuck
Wait until you see the one of those cave divers that go into narrow gaps and crawl through for miles
NGL, I would try to sleep in the closet.
The bit at the end where you looked at the abandoned apartment, the broken door on the hinge is giving me a person escaping the tiny apartment cause they couldn't take it anymore vibes lol.
I was thinking someone had a medical emergency and they had to break in to get them out. Then I started wondering how the hell you'd get someone who was incapacitated down those stairs? A stretcher is not gonna fit. They'd have an easier time going out the window.
These sort of places make me appreciate my own home that I find too small sometimes. There's no way I could live in a place that small it would drive me insane.
Same here. This tiny little place makes me feel like living in my 667 square foot apartment is being spoiled.
@@Aly9315 I live in a 900 sq.ft. apartment with my partner and it often feels too big. I think your size is the best for two people as long as you have great communication 😅. If I were living alone I think the perfect size would be 500. Less space = quicker to clean!
My bed is bigger than the entire room including the kitchen and shower!
As someone who is on the taller side, it really bothers me when I have to duck under low things. Many older homes in the US have basements with low ceilings. If I can't stand up straight in the entire basement, then that's a deal breaker for me.
It is smaller than a prison cell in my country 😨.
Judging by the mess on floor 5, the low rent and the fact that this definitely isn't someone's first choice in apartment, I can imagine the people living there could be a bit troubled.
Hope everyone is OK, though. Especially the room 5 one, if it's not just abandoned
Yup. Mental health issues and people on the edge of society came to mind when Norm said he was told not to talk to residents. The top-floor mess confirmed it in my mind.
Yeah... I thought that might be so, too. It's not as if they could say "Please avoid them because floor 5 is a junkie, 3 is an ex-con etc." would probably significantly decrease interest.
Or maybe its just that they don't want him knowing that they all have a little waiver in their contracts about concussions and the staircase.
In America we have something called, ‘section 8’ where people need to prove extreme poverty and or craziness. I think the latter is why you were warned not to talk to the other tenants. An I think the place on the 5th floor confirms that.
I hate to say it, but the combination of a cagey “just don’t talk with the residents,” an unoccupied apartment filled with trash, and a door off its hinge means one thing to me: #5's resident was almost certainly an elderly shut-in who sadly won’t be returning.
Either that or someone died inside that apartment and they had to pry the door open to get the corpse out. Very common in japan
Every time I watch these videos I always come out having a bigger appreciation for the house I'm in now. It's one floor, 2 bedroom, pretty small but man, it's like a mansion compared to these apartments😂
No kidding. 1400 sf all to myself and with two bathrooms? I'm a one percenter!
I live in Tokyo in a 452 square feet apartment with my wife and kids. We are a family of 5. That’s life here!
I have 32m² here (British suburban council flat) and though it's taken me *years* to learn to be comfortable with what I have, seeing videos like this makes me realise how lucky I am compared to folks in other parts of the World. 😇
It's also priced like a mansion compared to this. I'd live in a porta-a-potty if the rent was less than 300 a month.
we need sometimes to look down and be grateful of what we have rather than always looking up being envious
Wow this seems extremely soul-crushing. I don't think it'd even be fine just for sleeping, I'd feel too claustrophobic. Can't imagine what living in a tiny place like that felt like during covid.
You think the residents of that crackhome did care about covid?
Little John was not able to get galvanized square steel nor eco-friendly wood veneer
And his aunt is deceased so no expansion screws
Little John was living on the white building.i saw his window on it😂
What
Little Jon won't be watching any Korean dramas in here
@@michaelchapline6960who tf is little John? I know lil Jon but no little John . Whoooo is he?
Really love how you've shown the "living" room from multiple perspective and truly drove the point that the camera lens doesn't do justice to the real dimensions. It really kicked my brain into overdrive trying to imagine how being there would feel.
My first house was only 2,000 square feet (186 square metres) , and that was TINY.
There, if you drop a Kleenex, you'd have wall to wall carpet.
@bekindtoanimals2189 2000 Sq ft. That's a really decent size. Most houses on average are 1500 to maybe 2000. I think our mobile home is just at around 1000. Maybe a little more. If you were to say 200 than Oh my Force yes, very small
@bekindtoanimals2189 2000 SF is not tiny...
@@chelsearoses22 200?! 😱
@@bekindtoanimals2189 I mean tiny,, 200 would be tiny compared to 2000
As a first responder, I can’t help but think of the insane challenges here. Like getting a person who went down for any reason in the bedroom and needs to be carried out to an ambulance. Those stairs are brutal. Fire wouldn’t be able to get into this place with gear on. Similar to issue one, people die. Getting them out will be a real bitch, especially if it was a heart attack in the cramped bathroom or something… you can’t just toss them from the window lol
I think the easiest way would be to wrap them up on a gurney/stretcher, and lower them out of the window via some fire truck's ladders. However, there are tons of power lines (some of which medium voltage) all around the building.
Still, i've seen my local fire dept do that for a much more approachable town house. Apparently it was worth getting the firemen's cherry picker out, just to get someone out of the attic of a town/row house.
As a funeral director who does a lot of home removals, this apartment is an absolute NIGHTMARE
As a human being who is definitely not a sheep I actually rather like the apartment especially the vegetation outside on the deck 😋
If someone's already dead, what's the problem with just dropping them down onto an inflatable fire department pillow?
I think you would need one of those stretchers that you hoist up with helicopters where you fixate the patient too?
0:20 even the locals think this building is too much
Wow! Gotta say the tiny apartments aren't my favorite subject, but I really appreciated how you used the perspective shots to really show how truly minuscule this place is! I wonder if the arched things over the windows once had fabric awnings that eventually got too tattered and weren't replaced.
this one was just SOOOO much fun to shoot
and edit
and watch back
lol
1:24 the fact he waited a year for someone’s rent lease to end just to be able to do a video on this… I have genuine upmost respect for his dedication to his content.
Utmost.
@@Danbotologyuh oh grammar police 😂
People give respect for the simplest things, it's not like he wanted to rent the place he just wanted the content
1:10
@@TrailoFirespelling police actually, grammer is the use of syntax
Usually with miniature apartments I could imagine myself making it work. But this one just seems like a nightmare 😅.
Looks nice to me. You get a feeling of hiding away in a hard to get to small cave. I'm sure you get used to it.
@@ArnoldLarsen90 if you like it then power to you 👍. To me it feels dangerous and exposed, and having to go into that crazy stairwell every time you need the bathroom would be awful. I’d only live there if I literally had no other choice and just needed a place to crash at night.
Yeah, the stairs made it impossible for me to imagine.
@@ArnoldLarsen90What if a fire? You see yourself getting out in time before the whole place is burned down?
id take this over being homeless, BUT i prefer couchsurfing over this
I really liked your narration. Surprised that I never skipped any part.
I feel like the architect who designed this was too busy to figure if he could and didn't stop to think if he should.
I feel like this comment will hit over 1k likes
Gonna put down this reply so my reply would be the first reply to one of the most legendary comments on this video
Architecture finds a way. If it was build for condors, nobody would have anything to say about it
Architects, uh... find a way.
@@Somebody-xh9kverase your first comment. It will eat the likes from your second comment 😂
Of all the tiny/micro apartment videos you've done, this is perhaps the first that would actually trigger claustrophobia for me which is uncommon... and I'm 5'6" albeit stocky.
Weakness
Yeah the claustrophobia is real. When he walked in at first it looks like the walls are closing in. I was like Yikes, no thanks.
@@muffinconsumer4431 - coming from muffin consumer.. are you sure about that bud?
ya, this one crosses the line into ridiculous.
@@muffinconsumer4431 everyone has the own weaknesses. Even you, buddy.
Galvanised Square Steel ❌
Eco-friendly wood veneer ❌
Screws borrowed from his aunt ❌
My claustrophobia kicked in just watching you go up the steps, no way I could actually go in there myself 😅
You're afraid of Santa Claus?
claustrophobia is a fear of really cramped spaces@@blackout7615
@@blackout7615me too.
Same here.
Me neither.
I'm about to go live in Osaka and I managed to get the same rent for a fairly "normal" tiny apartment, incredible how the price goes up with location even with such drawbacks!
Honestly it would be a fun challenge to figure out how to stay for a couple months in those miniscule rooms, since it's essentially going to be a bed and a roof, and then anything else you do outside to not go crazy
I lived near Osaka 5 years ago, my 18sq apartment was 36k a month with pretty much everything you'd need to live normally, the bus stop right in front of the building, and this rent was still considered pretty high for the area. So yeah, hearing that this place is 40k and it's cheap is crazy.
osaka is still an awesome city though. I loved it when I visited
@@KeysOfMysteriumwhat is there to do there bc im going soon
I moved out for college recently and got a dorm with 2 other people and was pretty unhappy with how little room me and my roommates have to share but putting our dorm next to the room shown in this video makes our room look like a 5-star hotel lmao
Lol
Honestly, I think this building is a masterpiece of engineering and design. I would live there for sure! To fit that much in a space that narrow is truly impressive, and that main room is definitely still livable by Japanese standards. Also, I love the happy vibe that comes from the bright colours and natural light. That said, the toilet room being out of the unit isn't the best.
Serious question: how do you get furniture in there? A chair? On those stairs? A desk to work at? Heck- I feel like it would even be problematic to bring in a lamp! 😅❤
Ikea
Yes, IKEA and if you struggle getting the whole box up there unpack the box and bring the pieces up there one by one and assemble in the apartment. 😅
Foldable ones probably
You would have thin cushions and sit on the floor, probably at a low table with folding legs. With either a twin bed, or a futon that you put away. Basically every inexpensive Japanese apartment.
PIVOT! 😂
While the rooms are small and oddly-shaped, what actually bothered me was the building itself. I’m sure it’s safe, but yikes that thing looks like it would tip over in a storm. It’s so thin!
Yea haha
Think about how often earthquakes happen there. How to get out of such a cage when the ground is shaking under your feet.
It is triangular so its probably significantly stronger than it looks from the skinny side.
It has internal wind energy rotors. It just converts force into energy like a sail. That's why we call it yellow sail.
For $250 a month, a person could rent a storage space, set it up like a small apt. I used to work graveyard shift with a guy who did that for about a year to save his money. It was perfect for him because nobody bothered him at all during the day. Then he would just work all night, run to the gym ìn the morning to get a workout and shower, had a porta potty in his unit, and a small generator for power. When he first told me, I felt so bad for him. But one day he asked me if I wanted to check it out. I was blown away at how he had it set up in there. He had a bed , big screen TV, a gaming set up, his clothes hanging neatly, a small cooking station, 5gal jug of water etc. It may not be a great situation for everyone. But he sure made it work for himself. I thought it was pretty smart, honestly.
The little orange cover on the balcony is likely for a climbing plant. You can see a little hook in the corner where you'd hang a flowerpot for the plant to grow out of, and you can attatch the feelers to the bars with twine to encourage it to grow a little natural roof for the balcony.
Oh it's for plants? I thought those were for extra clothing space if you need to hang more laundry to dry.
Bitter melon. 😋
I think it's a cover in case anything drops down from above, e.g., the air conditioning unit.
I though for pullups
Most Americans can’t even fit in the stairway!
What’s better than a camper van video? A tiny apartment video! Honestly, these are some of my favourite videos of yours, Norm!
I guess that there is even a toilet is good.
hahaha thats 2 in a row then!
I'd rather take the camper.
I’m honestly shocked there’s that much living area. The outside just looks so absurdly tiny.
much?
What do you mean he said there’s 8ft at the max, that it’s tiny
@@Drewski28622No.
@@scottcontois3957 yes 8ft is absolutely absurd to be living in my downstairs bathroom is bigger than that
Yeah I get you. The end of the building at the beginning of the video is narrower than him, but it gets wider.
Feeling so grateful for the small space I live in.
This makes me feel sad for the tenants......even if you aren't claustrophobic, this is extreme, and has to have profound impacts on mental health.
I don't think this place is somewhere you use for much more than studying or sleeping. On the other hand, if you were a hikikomori (a shut in who spends their lives online) or something, your mental health is already not good and this place has the basics? I feel if I was young and didn't have a family this could be a place I could rent for a lease term.
It has a balcony. You can leave whenever you want. And is only$270 a month.
Better than being homeless.
As long as its safe its better than homelessness
@@GeoEstesno I prefer sleeping on the streets than in that apartment.
The fact all the other units are rented out is mindblowing! Thank you for the video
Thanks for the amazingly kind comment
How come? It's great for students, way better than a dorm.
@@dawnriddler I don’t think so at all. My dorm had its own bathroom and way more space
@@sammyp9514 in most dorms you need to share a room with other people, and i'd rather live in a shoe box than with other people.
@@dawnriddler great that’s your preference! I did have a roommate but I didnt have to take a dump in a hot box triangle toilet that’s placed in a stairwell where my neighbors are walking by hearing me go #2. I had my own bathroom and shower and that’s very important to me. Cooking in this unit would be close to impossible there is no where to prepare food and the stovetop is nearly nonexistent. Also I’m 6’2 so that bathroom would be a nightmare. I can tell you would prefer this place, good for you. Just leave it at that.
My chest tightened so bad while watching this - so claustrophobic 😮
As a 6'4 guy I have lived in a 5m2 room. It was so small that I would go outside and walk the streets going absolutely nowhere because the tiny space was making me depressed.
No wonder the Japanese work such crazy hours, you would rather be at work than in that claustrophobic nightmare.
Why can't a leave a comment on this video? The "add comment" button is simply no there. I barely managed to figure out how to write this reply
EXACTLY. Depression willbe the only result from this… meanwhile jeff bezos gets a mega yacht bigger than that whole street to himself just for lolz…
This is not the only housing that exists in Japan...
Average Japanese height is 5'6".
@@jaykay7932I agree. As long as bezos is happy on his yachts + rocket ships!
I think you could easily fit a family of 4 in there if you use some reinforced galvanized steel squares
Love the reference 😂
😂😂😂😂. Ummm ya ok. Sure. lol😂😂
I get this reference
The room itself is probably tolerable. Maybe investing in noise cancelling earbuds might alleviate the noise issue at night, if there is any. The toilet space and stairs are probably a deal breaker for me. I can see myself missing a step and the toilet space is a little too cramped. Credit where it's due, they were able to do a lot with so little space, but I wouldn't be able to.
Less it has a toilet and not go to McDonald for the toilet.😂.
This is not an apartment building, it's a wall.
I know this is a “feel-good” channel but this is the first tiny-apartment video that actually made me depressed. I really feel for people being forced to live like this.
Apartment looks cozy to me, but I like tight places, makes me feel more secure.
Better than a cardboard box
@@seekerofthemutablebalance5228but not as nice as having a government that regulates minimum sizes for apartments.
Bruh.. i'm pretty sure it was made intentionally for people like me who likes cozy tight spaces... though our house is kinda big, i would love to live in that kind of apartment... there are people who loves tight spaces, specially cavers...
@@nightking4132 yeah, you’re right, this has nothing to do with a housing problem and an overcrowded city, it’s definitely purposefully build for cavers!
I would love to see one of the “furnished” apts 😮
My usual guess when you're told not to approach or talk to the residents is that the landlord may not have a good reputation.
Or if they do, there may be something else with the apartments that they're not telling you.
So it's usually to save face or to not scare away potential tenants.
Or that the resident might be a hermit and wouldn’t like a guy with a camera around their space. Especially when the camera person isn’t Japanese themselves.
i bet the trashed apartment was a shut in or hikomori whatever. probably very depressed people lock themselves into such tiny places and disappear
@@skunkwerkz777
We can do that?!?! 😮❤
But how will I pay rent?!?! 🤔
It’s probably because they, wisely, want nothing to do with Americans…
Considering what the tv outlet looked like, thats probably true.
The apartment might work but the steps are out. Love your videos and your personality. Don
Awesome I have always wanted to live inside a wall
Found one of the Littles (cartoon TV show).
That can be arranged😂
😆🤣😭@@fidelcatsro6948
The headspace is what really kills me about it, I would probably hit my head alot, other then that it would be a interesting challenge to live in and decorate! I say that as someone who essentially renovated a shed into a livable space.
Shed sounds like a palace compared to this hole in the wall.
You need a helmet to live in that space.
I'd stay for a few days, but I don't think I can stay there for longer than that. Gotta admire how they were able to put together several apartment units in such a small piece of land.
My anxiety and claustrophobia is off the charts after watching this. 😂
my normal reaction to tiny japanese apartments is ‘that’s actually not bad’ but this is an absolute nightmare 😅
Claustrophobic hell
Also very inconvenient for average European or American obviously
I dont see any of outdoor ladders. this nightmare build concept shouldnt exist at least because of fire safety \ evacuation reasons
It's actually too big.
This is literally fine??? Just put a desk and twin bed in there
Junji Ito can put this in his manga and it couldn't be more fitting. (cause it's cramped, get it?)
Anyway, this is literally one of his visions for horror story.
I love how even in such small apartments, they have a ton of sunlight coming in, big windows and it all helps to make the place livable.
You must be high.
“Livable”
@@opalwisdom9780people make do, I guess. you’d be surprised on how people can make a home out of literally nothing.
What are you a plant? Photosynthesis! Lmao 😂😂.
@@ladylover1134 He was quoting it back because it was misspelled. It's actually spelled liveable.
Love the tiny apartment series! The architect of this apartment definitely has full of playful spirit. I was fascinated by not only the shape of building but also a lot of small details of it such as the center silver poll of the stairs, color choice of the exteriors(stands out so much!), the location choice of the bathroom etc! It's in Tokyo, I would love to check it out with my own eyes too!😆✨
Hey!! Great to have you here again!!
"Playful Spirit" lol thats very optimistic!! haha
You're from Osaka right? many crazy apartments in Osaka?
"Playful" "You keep using that word. I do not think it means, what you think it means." < Princess Bride
This not only feels dystopian but like a major fire hazard
Installed fireman iron and surf you life 3 second to ground .easy.
????@@ashchisalleh1454
Agreed...its a death trap in any number of dangerous situations. Hard to believe that the local building codes allowed this one.
Yes, dystopia indeed. Can you even imagine if a fire did break out.. no thank you!
I wonder how stable it would be through major earthquakes. 😵💫
My biggest issue with the apartment is that I have to leave the apartment to go to the toilet, as someone who does everything they can to avoid my neighbours having to risk meeting them every time sounds awful, or if they go past as I'm sitting there.
Empty bottle has entered the chat 😂😂💀
i imagine your neighbors would understand that if youre in the stairwell, theres a good chance you need to use the restroom, and would leave you alone. from what i understand the japanese are already pretty introverted/private with strangers anyways. could be wrong about that though.
It seems like the residents there probably aren't too into interacting with anyone anyway
Just pee in bathroom.
im sort of a home nudist
it would be frustrating to have to get dressed to use the toilet
Chris: *makes a "tiny apartment" video with mostly decent sized apartments*
Norm: "Challenge accepted!"
I would go crazy living there, and unless you're taller than me I'd barely fit in the door. But it would be neat to just rent it for a short stay.
That’s scary, especially for a seismically active region like Japan.
First thing I thought.
How is this any more scary than any other building? I think they build all buildings more sturdy for this purpose.
It’s so narrow that it can’t possibly be that stable at five stories high
Ooh I didn’t even think about that aspect! So true. Also, imagine having a fire or a medical emergency living in there. How could anyone get to you?
I get, where y'all are coming from, but recent cases showed the adverse effect.
In spain, there was a district on a hill, where every house was only a single story high (story = level?). They've been mostly built at around the same time. Seismic activities in the area caused regular damages, so two story high buildings easily collapsed. One guy thought, he wanted to stick out. He built a larger house 3 stories high. The concerns regarding the regular quakes made him build it rather flat for that height, starting from a comparatively lower level. (entry at sub-surface-level)
Similar to the building here (seemingly), the enhanced walls made it the only one in the region to survive an unprecedented intensity of said seismic activity.
So we can guess all we want: it's appearance will not tell us the actual chances for that.
It may be completely misleading to guess, here!
The house itself doesn't look old to me, so you can believe that they had a decent permit to build like this.
3:55 How sturdy is the closet. Can it support someone's weight so they can sleep in there?
I thought same!
Looks like a negative.
kudos to you for being able to film in different angles on this tiny apartment
A fire in this tiny apartment would be catastrophic. Imagine how fast the entire apartment gets burnt down and how slowl can you escape from that apartment with those tiny stairs and no emergency staircase.
I’m really surprised that Tokyo authorities would allow apartments in this building.
At first i said "yeah i could live here", then i read your comment...
It looks like you can jump onto the neighbors house.
When I looked at the apartment, my reaction is also "Does Japan not have a fire safety check?"
Honestly there's hardly anything to catch on fire
Hey just letting you know, you left your phone in the fridge
Legends say it is still inside the fridge to this very day
😂
@@jessebrettjames Yeah we wouldn't want those cold calls _defrosting._
Thanks. I'm stuck in the refrigerator of the even tinier apartment next door and called him several times for help. Now I know why he can't hear my calls. Would someone please ask him to come over and pry me out? This vlog was uploaded eleven months ago and I'm practically starved to death in the refrigerator by now.
@@meta-selfare u free yet do u jeed me to send u supplies my friend
This makes me feel so much better about the tiny granny flat my husband and I are living in!
Coming from an artistic standpoint, I love it. It’s a creative use of space, functional, and quirky. Coming from a logical standpoint….nope. It reminds me sort of like a treehouse because of the weird spaces, but yet oddly cozy. However, those stairs would be my demise. All it would take is one morning in a rush without my coffee and I’d be done for lol.
I don't even see how a place like this is legal. That's why we have building regulations in the u.s. Just him stepping out on the balcony was terrifying. This apt is too dangerous. 😮
typical '"MUH ART" standpoint. this apartment is human torture and should NOT be legal. god bless japan!
I'd probably buy a rope escape ladder and use that for coming and going out the window.
Nothing functional about it.
Neah, you can't fall down the stairs, there's no room! You'll bonk into the opposite wall and get stuck at a weird angle.
Never realized how much luxury I get as an American living in a room 3 times the size of that entire apartment... amazing video and well shot, can't wait to see more!!
America is an stolen land so you have plenty of space.
But Americans on average are 3 times the size of Japanese people so you need a bigger apartment. 😏
@@johno9507 I hate how right you are in that lmao
😂
@@johno9507maybe my height is 3x the size 😂
While filling out his insurance form he was undecided on how to explain why he decided to put his iPhone in a refrigerator while viewing a property and forgot about it.
LMFAO
on my way back to pick it up now lol
Came here for this answer. Thank you for sharing this crucial information. 😂
From 2:30 to the end of the video I was thinking "I hope Norm remembers to take his phone out of the fridge." @@TokyoLens
@@TokyoLens I half freaked out when you did not film getting it back. just kept repeating, don't forget your phone a few times until I realized that I was doing that. I'm paranoid about loosing my phone, or wallet or keys.
The iphone will be fine. The titanium in it is freeze proof 😂
Wow! Never knew something like this existed!!
with me being claustrophobic, this video is giving me ALL the anxiety I would freak out with just that staircase alone. I've seen NY tiny apartments which were cool to me but this is just extreme 😂😭
The staircase was the only part that bothered me. I don't mind small spaces, just confined spaces. Staircases like that have been in my nightmares.
@@verdatumI cannot sit in that toilet baked my sun heat and toilet smell. I would die. So not just stairs. No ventilation in toilet and he started sweating in just a minute.
@@indiankid8601 ooo, good point.
Me too! I have never felt anxiety by watching a video. 😂
I would take this over the $100/month apt, but still a tough situation to live in with that toilet and the stairs. Norm, your Tiny Apt series and the Pet Detective videos are my favorites! Thank you for creating such unique, fun videos. The Pet Detective one especially was so heartwarming.
Thank you so much for being here for it.
I’ll see you in the next one!! 😊
I always felt like my room is too small and wished I have a bigger space for my closet but seeing all these small apartments just made me realize how lucky I am to even have a room. Lol
Retard
Little John would make this into a palace as long as he was supplied with some galvanized square steel and screws from his Aunt
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
That cute "cover thing" you like over the balcony window is probably for hanging clothes to dry. Tenants could also probably attach a canvas tarp to it if they want shade from sun and/or rain.
I was thinking hanging plants lol
I thought maybe to hold onto for some fresh air just like he did, hahaha. Like a safety thing? 😮🤔😃
Just my two cents on why they detered you from talking to the tenants.
But i think in general, Japanese people like to keep their private life a secret.
Especially so when things are rough.
Even though the house itself is famous, and widely known, people that are better off would not decide to live there (or the 100$ apartments).
So the most likely scenario is that those that live in the cheap apartments are down on their luck, and wants to be anonymous.
Yeah, i thought so too. The apartment on the fifth floor clearly belonged to a person with some issues. These are not apartments for people with a good salary and a loving family. These are for lonely, poor people .
Absolutely this - I wouldn't want people like old friends or family or just people in general to see how spectacularly bad my life had become . This looks like a novelty to some younger viewers, but this is someone's actual home.
that makes sense, it's probably considered very shameful to live like this, and they automatically think they're gonna be mocked for it
I’m claustrophobic and this is the definition of purgatory for me. Even watching you going inside, gives me anxiety and sheer fright. I feel so sorry for the people who have to live in a brutally tiny place like this.
Purgatory? Do you know what that means?
Well Japanese people are much tinier and have slimmer builds than Westerners. So that kind of helps.
@@_Just_Another_GuyOh please, even for them *this* is considered tiny. You can be small and still want space to breathe and room to use.
The toilet space is actually pretty genius design. Since the space is so small, keeping potential unpleasant smells across the stairs and separated by two doors probably does a lot to keep things pleasant.
but it gets super hot
Super congested and no ventilation? Imagine the door getting locked. 😂😅
Our baby's closet is so much bigger than the largest room. Do people actually accept this as a place to live? It's like a doll house for a 5- or 7-year-old.
@@flowergirlabc123 My walk in closet is twice the size of this apartment.
just put a tiny ventilation window on top of the toilet and a door with ventilation grille and it would be fine
Love the minimalist. Wow
This makes me grateful for my 1 bedroom apartment although I feel like I need more space! But it’s literally a mansion compared to this 🥺
God bless America, app is considered small for 1 bedroom when under 1000 sq feet 🤭
Same, my place is only about 350sqft but it's heaven compared to this.
Little Johnny's apartment 🗣️🗣️🗣️🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Time to break out the galvinized square steel and eco-friendly wooden veneers.
I don't think he could afford something so fancy. It even has toilet room AND a balcony! Could probably fit 1000 children.
Just use Galvanized square steel and eco-friendly wood veneers durable for 10 thousand years
Watching this made me breathless
I'm 5'1 so the short doors and shower likely wouldn't be an issue for me, but the stairs are a big area of concern for me. There are specific proportions stairs need to be in order to be conventionally safe to go down and those do not look like they're big enough.
They should put in a pole, like a fire station.
oh my pkcell
I wonder why they didn't put the stairs on the OUTSIDE of the apartment like how typical NYC apartments have exterior fire escape routes.
@@_Just_Another_Guythat would be a good idea actually! Except I think the road is in the way…
I'm a truck driver in the United States and I've driven a truck with a "Legacy Sleeper" that had 3× the room that that apartment has! With a full bathroom, a full size bed, full size fridge, stove, sink and living room with a fold up dining table. It also has its own "apu" (auxiliary power unit) so u don't have to idle the trucks engine as much and it runs all things that require electrical power. They are stupid expensive though but if u decide to make truckin ur whole life then it's worth the investment.
That sounds wonderful! 🥰
I actually might if i were to be in the area, the biggest concern I have watching though is that in seasons of earthquakes, how in the world is that building staying up? It looks like it would just topple over like a domino. 😅
those who've served in the coast guard/ navy and who worked in ships can agree with me on this that this apartment is just as cramped or even more cramped than living in a ship. I think I like the tiny apartment with multiple floors inhabited by that cute girl. I can't imagine living normal life in such a cramped space. great find Norm, I wonder if there's anything smaller than this in Japan. My idea is since the country is a disaster-prone place, I think shipping containers turned into apartments would make good homes.
Shipping containers actually made lousy living accomodation. There is no insulation so it will be hot in the summer and cold in the winter.
@@Slla-th5vt it will be fitted with insulation of course
there are tinier apartments in Japan.
@@AnthonyStJames-yn8nr cost a lot and inefficient. There are already videos debunking this. Containers are not made for human living in the first place. So with all the effort and money going into making it livable, might as well go for a real home.
I was in the Marines, deployed on Navy ships twice. Hated living on the ships. Those coffin racks are miserable but we all find a way to make it our own for the time on ship. I would much rather take this apartment over being back in a berthing with 40+ Marines, stacked 3-4 high again.
Wow I actually felt kind of ill watching this. It feels like a nightmare house to me 😂
Totally agree. Anxiety just watching it right now.
Me too 😬
Totally
For 260 a month I'd make this work. Wouldn't want guests in it, and i'd probably going somewhere else on my free time, but it would be workable.
Imagine being an ambulance crew and coming here,
I'd be like, "I quit"
This is such an interesting one. It's a shame the top floor looks like that, hope they get it fixed up. Honestly the fact that it is horribly ventilated/noisy is one of the biggest downsides imo. That and the laundry situation. I do wonder about the general safety aspects though. How resistant it is to wind shear, earthquakes, etc. And how the general building maintenance is for the places you don't see.
The problem is most likely the walls are too thin, in an effort to make up for as much floorspace as possible. The windows are huge letting in hot light. To cool the place down in the summer you can use the same technique people use to keep cars cool, by putting reflective window covers up. To make it quieter, you could buy some noise canceling foam and line the glass doors in particular. It's definitely a space you'd have to have a minimalistic lifestyle in.
It screams FIRE HAZARD!! Would be illegal anywhere else.
I love that someone in Japan made the world's largest candy corn and turned it into an apartment and that you made a video about it and released it in October 🎃
lol damn…. I’ll never look at this the same way again 😂
Just watching this video is making me feel like I can’t breathe. 😥😱
I was just gonna say that..😱
I would love to have seen what Okazaki-san thought of the apartment! I loved seeing her opinions on the tiny apartments, having lived in one herself.
ye, miss her
what ever happened to her?
I think Norm mentioned that she graduated and is now in her field
@@ariesmry well shiiiet. . . and we all know how bad these Japanese companies work newbies to the bone. We might not actually see her again for a long time.
Great idea!
I can’t breathe just watching this!!!
I think that possibly abandoned apartment answers your question on why you probably shouldn't approach the residents. I suspect a lot of the people that live in these apartments are not in a good place in their lives.
Not helped by the whole "living in a jail cell" issue.
This is like paying to live in a place worse than a prison cell.
My Japanese cat agrees
Likely ex-cons that need a fixed address to attain a job.
Honestly this doesnt seem TOO bad to me compared to other micro apartments, id totally live there if I could. The space is way too small but having big windows and a tiny balcony/veranda does help. Only complaint is the toilet... yikes...
they could have added better ventilation or a small window.
I'd bring a portable fan when using the toilet. I'd also have a chamber pot to use at night when I need to pee because climbing those stairs while half asleep can be dangerous.
@@krdiaz8026 id just get compost toilet you see some van dwellers use
I am claustrophobic and watching this made me feel anxious. No one should have to live like that. Imagine lockdowns?
I felt that too! It gave me a sense of panic watching this video 😢.
Hopefully no one’s dumb enough to comply with that next time they try that sniffles scare crap
@@Joben2112 people love to comply and be ruled over 🙄
I enjoy your videos so much!
I lived in a micro apartments and this place doesn’t look that bad. What surprised me was the rent!!!! $260 usd a month? My hometown has a places just a little bigger than this going for $950 usd. God bless Japan.
Because you live in a liberal shithole.
Japan seems to actually care about supplying places to live unlike certain other countries nimbyism
@@demetcip40,000
@@demetcip$26 a month?????
@@demetcip 40,000 yen is the correct number.
i adore this and wish i lived there, you talk about it like its barely any space but its almost double the amount of space i currently live in, its an incredibly charming place, i wish more countries did things like this, i wish there was more places like this, the view from there is amazing and i love it. so inspiring. the noisiness is actually a pleasurable thing, as small spaces are a nightmare to live in when they are dead quiet, its kind of ironic, but having a small space to live in when its noisy outside makes it feel less lonely and less small.
Hong Kong apartment?
For asians this is actually a perfect place for college kids 😅😅 we average 170cm in height anyway so it's actually wider for us than westerners
Pure insanity. There isn't even space for a toilet. I would last 2 days before I jumped in front of a train. My master bedroom, closet and master bathroom are more than triple the size of this apartment. This place is only a slight upgrade to having no shelter.
Literally got anxious watching this!
I never thought I'd be rendered speechless. 😮
Love it! I started rearranging furniture in my head immediately! The closet area would be a great place for a projector screen. Sitting on a futon with a mug of tea, a cozy, little dream. Being 5’2” and probably part hobbit also helps.
Thanks again for sparking my creativity! Take care!
haha but the question is.... how do you get that furniture IN there haha
@@TokyoLens I’m on Move #38. Life has become a big Tetris game, and I love IKEA. 😆
@@sarahramos291938??? Wow, I can't imagine what that's like! If you don't mind my asking, what causes so many moves?
The architect of these project was really creative with their design.
I think the bigger question about the living space (if you even really want to call it that) would be how would you even get anything up there to begin with? Norm is a pretty slim dude and even he had trouble just climbing the stairs without holding onto the beam in the middle so imagine trying to carry practically anything up them. You'd almost have to somehow rig like a pulley system with the hooks for the wash line on the balcony to get your stuff up there.
I’d imagine there are moving companies in Japan that use cranes to hoist furniture through windows. It’s pretty common practice in countries with lots of mid-rise buildings.
Everything you buy has to be flat-packed and assembled yourself up there. Maybe a few exceptional things could be brought in via the window. Exceptional mostly because I suspect the windows might be smaller than they appear on video.
You don't. You sleep on a futon, sit on a cushion, and don't bother buying furniture. Everything you bring in, is something you can roll up or carry in a bag. You live a minimalist lifestyle.
That building is a whole fire hazard tbh.
That's exactly what they do in the Netherlands with all the super-narrow houses.
The first apartment is pretty decent and niice~ i will def stay there~ thanks for sharinc 😊
I completely imagined this space a different way 😮. And that trashed space...can you imagine hoarding in such a tiny space????
a long time ago I watched a video about "japan's death cleaners" and that trashed apartment looks exactly like one of those apartment where an elderly lived alone (this is the only space he could afford) and died in, after becoming too ill to even take the trash out and had no one to ask for help from.
@S_Flower_99 I saw the same or a similar video and I was half expecting him to find a dead body in there once I saw the mess
I would find it very hard to keep a small space tidy because there wouldn't be much room to store valuables causing lots of clutter
imagine the chore of taking the trash out everyday, 5 stories down, 5 stories back up. it got old really fast i imagine.
Would rather live in a tiny apartment than to not be able to afford an apartment at all. Japan does it the right way while the US regulates poor people into homelessness.
That entire apartment is the size of my living room! I can't imagine living in such a tiny space. It was claustrophobic just watching you open that bathroom door. The lack of privacy and space in the bathroom, plus those scary stairs make it not worth it, even for $267 USD per month. Nope!
i live in a house so my living room is like 2 times the size of the appartment probably lol
Probably not so bad if you spend your day outside every day. There's so much to do in Tokyo and plenty of places to chill out of the house.