Like many Zen-inspired structures, Okawara's hut is a monument to simplicity. The size of a large tool shed, the wooden building blends seamlessly with the surrounding park. His door opens to a full view of Tokyo's Tama River.
Okawara is not your typical architect: He's homeless. But the elegant austerity of his hut and thousands of others like it has turned the country's destitute into unwitting purveyors of an emerging art form that's catching the eye of international connoisseurs.
The dwellings -- carefully built, meticulously kept and collapsible for quick movement when police move in -- have inspired a rash of art books, and Japanese promoters are discussing them with curators in North America and Europe.