>I don’t know, 9 square meters is anything but cupboard size to me.
For a whole apartment (even excluding kitchen/shower)? Let's be generous and say it's double. Where in the west is 18 sq m. not closer to a cupboard than a house?
For a whole apartment (even excluding kitchen/shower)? Let's be generous and say it's double. Where in the west is 18 sq m. not closer to a cupboard than a house?
The catch is that there is a loft which doesn’t count towards the square meterage.
In contrast, an 18sqm place can have a kitchen with two burners where you can actually prepare food, a door between the kitchen and your bedroom so you don’t stink the place up while cooking, and can even have separate rooms for the toilet and sink. A lot of people I've met consider this pretty luxurious, at least in central Tokyo.
They’re generally aimed at students but plenty of single adults like myself lived in them too, mainly people who aren’t home much, eat out and socialise lots. It’s a place to sleep, and walking distance to work (and home, after a night out).
I now live on a quarter acre in a rural city but I didn’t regret it when I did it, I saved plenty of money and enjoyed the city life for a fair few years until I started a family.
It was very nice. The only reason I moved into a 2-room apartment was because I wanted a sofa.