Constructing an Interior Public:uchiandsotoin the Japanese Sharehouse

Urban singles and shared housing

“…co-working) and leisure (e.g. exclusive amenities such as swimming pools or movie theatres) and blurring distinctions between public and domestic space (see Meagher, 2017).…”

Living alone together in Tokyo share houses

“…These features are particularly important in the Japanese context where the strict distinction between uchi (domestic, inside) and soto (public, outside), though contested, has been at the center of discourses of home and belonging (Ronald & Hirayama, 2009). Thus, the appearance of semi-public spaces in the context of shea-hausu can be associated with the dissolution of strict cultural norms (Kubota, 2009), but also with a shift in how domestic identities and materialities are being constructed (Meagher, 2017). Extant research into the experiences of sharing in different contexts, notably the UK and other English speaking countries, has illustrated the means by which co-residents typically negotiate relationships (Clark et al, 2017;Hilder et al, 2018) and form identities that help normalize shared housing, establishing feelings of, and attachment to, 'home' (Gorman-Murray, 2015;McNamara & Connell, 2007).…”

“…Industry statistics suggest that there are currently between 20,000 and 25,000 rooms in shea-hausu in Tokyo, up from just a few hundred twenty years ago (Hitsuji Fudosan, 2013;Meagher, 2017). Shea-hausu thus remains a niche market, despite growing popularity and visibility in the media.…”

“…Instead encounters and relationships are envisioned as necessarily serendipitous. In this sense, the common spaces of share houses are designed to be used but also to function as quasi-public spaces (Meagher, 2017). Outsider friends and family are not always welcome.…”

“…Building relationships with others is an important upfront benefit and arguably also a motivation for sharing among residents. The appropriate balance between privacy and sharing, however, is something that both providers and users wrestle with, suggesting a continuous reevaluation of the publicness of shared spaces (Meagher, 2017).…”