The country is therefore well-placed to come up with new housing ideas, and this year's House Vision Tokyo exhibition brings together some of its best architects to do just that.

The theme for this year's exhibition is "Co-Dividual: Split and Connect/Separate and Come Together." It aims to promote ideas that bring people together, in addition to addressing issues like Japan's aging society, economic stagnation, and recent disasters.

There's a total of 12 prototype homes in all, and they run the gamut from wacky to perfectly realizable. Each has been constructed for the exhibition and can be viewed by the public in Tokyo until August 28.