About two years ago, Hiroko Nakamura, a 40-year-old Tokyo housewife, decided she wanted only truly essential items in her home.
In the 2DK (two bedrooms and a dining room-kitchen) condominium she has lived in with her husband for 12 years, there are only a few things that could be called furniture -- a coffee table, some zabuton cushions, a set of rattan drawers, a writing desk and a Chinese wooden box used as a TV/video stand.
The couple have no beds, no dining table, no sofa and no bookcases. They do not even have a rice cooker, a standard appliance in almost all Japanese households, but Nakamura says they have never felt uncomfortable or experienced inconveniences without these things.