From a window in the apartment building where she lived for much of her adult life, 81-year-old Kimi Sekine was in a unique position to observe the transformation of Tokyo's bustling Shibuya district. 
A residence this small is no longer a house but too large to be considered furniture. The intention is fully practical by condensing function to elements. It is small enough to be carried to a location—urban, industrial, natural—and support one person’s need as a full-service shelter. At 27 cubic meters, 3 meters to a side, the design relies on portative elements. 
Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. and Fujitsu R&D Center Co., Ltd. (collectively "Fujitsu") today announced that, to connect multiple datacenters scattered within a metropolitan area with high capacity and at low cost, they have developed a basic architecture for digital-signal processing in optical transceivers transmitting data at 400 gigabits per second over a single wavelength. 
Seibu Railway Japan plans to introduce a new express train in 2018 with a design that will blend the train with the landscape. The train will look like a reflection of landscape when it goes into service. The future train will use optical camouflage technology to reflect the landscape. 
Japanese architecture firm Nikken Sekkei has submitted a joint bid alongside a Catalan studio to reshape FC Barcelona’s Nou Camp Stadium.
A company that operates “onsen” hot spring facilities has been selected to operate a commercial and tourism complex in the new fish market in Tokyo that will replace the current Tsukiji market in November. 
It isn’t, frankly, very sustainable. But the Japanese don’t really like second-hand houses. It is a little difficult to imagine if you live in London, where the most desirable properties are in Georgian or Victorian squares, or in New York, where it’s brownstones or lofts. Not to mention the decadently decaying frescoed Italian palazzi of Rome or Venice. 
More than a month has passed since the selection of a new design for the new National Stadium, which will be the main venue for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. Architect Kengo Kuma, who is spearheading a new design after a series of twists and turns, told The Yomiuri Shimbun in a recent interview about his dream of creating a “place to rest in the modern city” that anyone can enjoy. 
An apartment complex here sports an innovative lighting system that uses the energy from simple human footsteps to generate electricity in stairwells.
Kengo Kuma, the architect of Japan’s new 2020 Olympics stadium, refuted allegations by British-Iraqi designer Zaha Hadid that his design borrowed from blueprints she made and which organizers dropped last year. 
Yukio Shigematsu first became interested in traditional Japanese architecture about 10 years ago after recovering from an illness.
Despite an uproar over its impending demolition, the historic main building of the Daimaru Shinsaibashi department store, an art deco masterpiece, closed its doors for the last time here on Dec. 30 to end its 82-year history. 
Makoto Sei Watanabe (born 1952) is a Japanese architect living in Tokyo. He designed such buildings as Japan's K Museum, has lectured at universities around Japan, and won many awards for his designs. He is the author of The Induction Cities, published in 2002. 
A stark white ship that sails in the middle of the bustling sea of colors.