
MUJI Hut: A 9.1-sqm Minimalist Cabin - desdiv
https://www.muji.com/jp/mujihut/en.html
======
kefka
Yeah, I live in a "Tiny Home". It's called a Trailer.

This house has all the amenities. Water, sewage, gas, electricity, central
air, internet, storage, kitchen. Like a normal house would have. And since it
was made in the '80s , it was also inexpensive. And it's equity; I can claim
it for homeowners deduction and can later sell it to get a bigger house.

Oh, but trailers are for poor people. This whole tiny house shit is for rich
people who want to be "economical", while showing idiotic extravagance. Of
course, a $30k lean-to just goes to show the case. Or $70k for that Minim crap
where even a bookshelf is a line-item to add. (We have 6 bookshelves in our
'tiny house', and we didn't have to check a box on a bloated web-app.)

~~~
tonyedgecombe
I get the impression trailers are very common in the US, is that the case? We
have something similar in the UK (we call them mobile homes) but you don't see
very many of them, probably because they don't work that well with our
climate.

~~~
coldtea
In the US the trailers the parent refers to are not used as "mobile homes"
(for vacations etc, what the British would call "caravans" IIRC) but as
permanent all-year-round homes, usually for poorer people.

~~~
tonyedgecombe
Mobile homes in the UK are usually permanent, something like:
[http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-
sale/property-656753...](http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-
sale/property-65675327.html) although I now notice estate agents call them
park homes.

~~~
coldtea
> _Mobile homes in the UK are usually permanent_

They are usually permanently placed, but are they permanent residencies, or
more like vacation homes (for people who also have another main residence)?

I had the impression it was the latter from some UK friends I have with one.

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ihiromi
The english version of this page omits some of the relevant context here.

Looks like this is part of a joint initiative led by MUJI and some design
firms to commercialize an abandoned school in Chiba Prefecture, Nagao
Kindergarten/Elementary School, as a "multipurpose facility".
[http://www.awashirahama.com/nagao/](http://www.awashirahama.com/nagao/)
(Japanese only, although google translate does reasonably well.)

Basically the concept seems like a get-away for urban hipsters to go
experience “rural farm life” or “communal living” just a couple hours away
from Tokyo. And by "rural" and "communal" I mean complete with cute little
designer huts/cabins, farm-to-table restaurants, and communal bathing/kitchen
facilities, which I think gives this hut design/price point a little more
context.

In the Japanese version of this page it’s pretty clear the hut is meant
exclusively for this project, with more of an after thought that says if
you’re interested in having one constructed anywhere else, that they will make
an announcement “after Fall 2017”, which in this case is probably Japanese
business lingo for “never, unless there is so much demand for it that we can
make serious money off of it”.

~~~
afro88
> experience “rural farm life” or “communal living” just a couple hours away
> from Tokyo.

You just straw-manned your way into a negative review of the concept. I think
the vast majority of people looking at this can clearly see it's not actual
rural or traditional communal living, but a relaxed getaway in the outdoors
that's easy to get to, with top range locally sourced dining possibilities and
an environment that actively encourages social interaction. The site you
linked makes no mention of rural farm life or communal living.

It sounds like this isn't your cup of tea (and to be honest it's not exactly
mine either), but I love the trend of people repurposing buildings and old
spaces rather than knocking them down. I also love the trend of locally grown
and sourced food, rather than importing everything. Literally one of the best
meals of my life was all locally sourced. Meanwhile most things I buy from the
supermarket down the road are imported and taste bland. I hope both these
trends continue.

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oblib
Well, it's certainly "minimalist" and it's a very nice web site, with great
photos, but it's quite a stretcher to call that a "radically new concept".

We've been making these here in the Ozarks for generations. They're not
considered very hifalutin though. They're called "Hunting Shacks" here. Most
have a small wood burning stove inside them and used barn tin for the roof
(for style), but the design is the same and darn near as old as the mountains
we live in.

~~~
jsmthrowaway
The radically new concept is extracting $28,000 for a lean-to design, then
barely warranting it for five years. That's just insane. Depending on how
swanky the materials, you can build one of these yourself with a couple
truckloads of stuff from Lowe's for less than a quarter of that, including
laying a polished concrete pad for it.

Note that I'm not saying "hacker culture just compile your own," I'm merely
trying to find where the additional cost comes from. They handle the
contractor and the plans are already drawn and approved, so that's probably
part of it. But still, $28,000? Is Japan _that_ expensive?

~~~
aaron695
> barely warranting it for five years

Do cars or anything else often have warranties longer than 5 years? Does a
regular house have a warranty longer than 5 years?

~~~
dragonwriter
> Do cars or anything else often have warranties longer than 5 years?

Yes, many products have lifetime warranties; cars typically have shorter
"bumper-to-bumper" warranties (though, yes, some are longer, too) but very
often have key-component warranties that are longer than 5 years.

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lhl
Hmm, disappointing that this is what Muji ended up launching, this looks
smaller and simpler than the three designs they showed off in late 2015. [1]
Of those three concepts, Naoto Fukasawa’s Wood Hut was my favorite. Two of the
designs had plumbing, and Fukasawa's in fact had a pretty awesome looking
soaking tub. As it is, like others have mentioned, it's pretty much an
overpriced shed.

While it may seem a bit strange, Muji has been building houses since 2000
(english writeup here [2]) that seem reasonable vs the competition (prefab
houses are more common in Japan and they can be put up in a day or two - big
companies include Misawa and a even subsidiary of Toyota. Their sites are all
Japanese, but you can browse the pics to see the quality/design aesthetics
(which I quite like). [3] [4]

Someone else mentioned the $71K Minim Home as an alternative in the US (which
is pretty nice). An option closer to the Muji Hut pricing (but you know, that
one could actually live in) is say the Escape Vista which starts at $39-49K:
[http://www.escapetraveler.net/vista-vista-
go](http://www.escapetraveler.net/vista-vista-go)

[1] [http://www.spoon-tamago.com/2015/11/06/muji-hut/](http://www.spoon-
tamago.com/2015/11/06/muji-hut/)

[2] [http://gizmodo.com/why-buying-entire-pre-designed-houses-
cou...](http://gizmodo.com/why-buying-entire-pre-designed-houses-could-catch-
on-in-1651115237)

[3] [https://www.misawa.co.jp/](https://www.misawa.co.jp/)

[4] [http://www.toyotahome-aichi.co.jp/](http://www.toyotahome-aichi.co.jp/)

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aratno
Just made the depressing transition from looking at Craigslist housing in SF
to seeing this. The concept looks great, but it's hard to tell who its for. I
assume you need to own the land it's placed on, so how could it be used for
vacationing?

~~~
spaceflunky
Fwiw I own a duplex in a very popular Oakland neighborhood with something very
very similar to this in the back. My cabin is about 190sqft with a full bath.
It even has its own private patio which is about another 300sqft.

I am unable to rent it out because it is too small per city rules and it
doesn't have a kitchen. I could rent it out illegally, but if there was any
dispute with the tenant, the tenant could retaliate by suing me for renting an
illegal unit. In a dispute, I could be forced by the city to pay back ALL of
the rent said tenant paid to me, ever.

My cabin sits vacant.

~~~
aratno
Well that's too bad. Wouldn't it be possible to Airbnb though?

~~~
spaceflunky
Unlikely without annoying my other tenants.

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DINKDINK
For $50K USD more, you get substantially more bang for your buck with this
Minim House: [http://minimhomes.com/](http://minimhomes.com/)

~~~
tomcam
Try $71,000 for the absolute minimum: [http://minimhomes.com/buy-the-minim-
home/](http://minimhomes.com/buy-the-minim-home/)

~~~
DINKDINK
Yes, which is $50k more

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vikingcaffiene
I could see something like this being a good home office one could install in
their backyard. However, the price point makes it untenable. Not paying that
kind of scratch for a fancy shed.

Side note: MUJI makes some of the best pens I've ever used.

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rwmj
Incredibly expensive. You can already get these sorts of garden rooms/offices,
for about 1/3rd of the price. This one costs £21K. Four years ago I ordered a
garden office _including having two people come and build it for me_ for about
£7K.

Edit: Picture: [https://rwmj.wordpress.com/2013/07/10/garden-office-most-
mos...](https://rwmj.wordpress.com/2013/07/10/garden-office-most-mostly-done/)

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whyenot
This is just a Tuff Shed with a higher price tag. None of the more difficult
problems (running water and septic, for example) have been solved.

~~~
hn_throwaway_99
You're not kidding. Check out the similarities between this Tuff Shed and the
Muji: [https://www.tuffshed.com/ones-not-enough-
part-2/](https://www.tuffshed.com/ones-not-enough-part-2/)

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peterwwillis
Okay, so if you're an architecture/design/materials nerd, this is a cute
concept and it's probably not easy for you to get these specific materials at
your local home depot.

However, If you have the time, I really recommend you build something like
this yourself. It will probably be 10x cheaper. It is not difficult to build
something generally like this, and this thing is so tiny it might not require
any permit at all. The real fun of this is you could actually use traditional
Japanese timber framing methods to build it. You could do more with it too,
like make the false floor double as storage, build in a murphy bed that folds
up to be a desk, add sliding panels to act as a privacy screen, and a flip-
down storm shutter (with solar panels on top!!! let's go crazy) so you don't
need to use glass doors. I would also replace that ugly interior plywood with
pretty much anything else (even bamboo) with goza mats for carpet.

Also, like someone else mentioned, you don't need that whole porch. It could
be extended forward up to the glass (or whatever), with a small cross-section
of bamboo as a baseboard where the drop-off occurs, giving more of a natural
flow from the inside to the out. The left-hand side could be reserved as the
genkan for removing shoes, lowered to add to the aesthetic.

Personally I think this whole idea would have been better served with organic
architecture features, rather than looking like a weird ikea shed moved to
Japan.

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fizixer
Can someone recommend a long form soundtrack (1+ hour or something) that
sounds like that on that website?

edit: Nevermind (youtu.be/Aaz80cOx7OI)

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pkrefta
Search for "Kip Mazuy" on Youtube :-)

~~~
fizixer
Thanks. Great recommendation. (I found the youtube url of the soundtrack as
well, shared in my original comment).

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colourincorrect
Is it the hip new thing to want to live in a cabin like this?

I guess only if it's "certified cool" by some fancy brand, but then again MUJI
(無印良品) literally translates to "No Brand Quality Goods", so who knows?

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jpincheira
Quite expensive for what it is, no toilet/kitchenette as well? Uff. But man,
great design, gotta say. Good idea, I'd add a kitchen and a toilet and get it
all done for half the price in the south of Chile.

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bake
Check out [https://getaway.house/](https://getaway.house/) if you're in NYC or
Boston and interested in renting a tiny house for the weekend.

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krig
There's a swedish company that does houses in a similar style to this, at
least close enough to remind me of them.

Unfortunately the website is only in swedish as far as I can see, but the
photos should translate:

[http://www.levahusfabrik.se/gallery/](http://www.levahusfabrik.se/gallery/)

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ClassyJacket
Does anyone know what the point is of wasting floor space on a porch when the
actual interior is so small? Seems to me that type of floor space that is only
sometimes useful would be one of the very first things to go.

I love seeing these cool concepts for tiny houses, but why not use every
available bit of floor space?

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ksec
Great if there are actual place you can put it, but people in Hong Kong cant
even rent a place as large as this tiny MUJI home for less then $750 USD per
month.

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microcolonel
$28k for a shack with what looks like a wood burning stove?

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webluser
Lol, with such big windows you'll get attacked in no time

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alexpw
I saw the comments here describing pricing, but all I saw was a slideshow with
no text and no pictures of the cabin. I finally viewed the source and realized
I had to scroll. No one else was baffled? Clearly it's time for bed...

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iamacynic
you know what this entire industry needs?

a professional to help you permit and utility-ize this thing as part of the
purchase cost or an add-on service. make me feel warm and fuzzy that i can
actually execute on this project of buying some land and changing my living
situation.

anyone can build or buy a nice little luxury shack. actually living in it on a
piece of land legally is the challenging part.

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jenhsun
Calm - Meditation made simple [https://www.calm.com/](https://www.calm.com/)

Rainy Mood - Helps you to focus, relax, and sleep
[http://www.rainymood.com/](http://www.rainymood.com/)

~~~
jenhsun
Sorry for Off-Topic posts above. I just want a simple way to do meditation and
can't wait to build a cabin. Same purpose, different approach I think.

