[China: World Residence Tour] Ideas about Privacy and Storage

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When it comes to effective use of space, I feel that Japan is very good at it. Because of its small land area, Japan has a high awareness of protecting privacy and effective use of space. In China, due to various reasons, there are still not as many households that care about privacy as in Japan. In this article, I would like to introduce the topic of effective use of space, especially in the area of storage.

The development of the idea of the entrance

In Japan, it is common knowledge that the first thing you see when you enter a house is the entrance area. Moreover, from the perspective of protecting privacy, the layout is often designed so that the inside of the house is not directly visible from the entrance. In contrast, in China, there are many rooms that do not have an entrance area, and even if they do, it may not be clearly distinguished from other spaces. As a result, you can see the room directly from the entrance or door.

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The Japanese entrance (left) and the Chinese entrance (right)
（Source: Lifestyle database Consumer Life Panorama）
（For an overview of Consumer Life Panorama here）

There are two possible reasons why Chinese houses have often lacked entrance area in the past. One is that the owner decide the interior design by themselves, and the other is that the size of the room is limited. In China, the owner often decides the interior of the room by themselves. They have to decide everything from the choice of materials to the design of the interior by themselves. In addition, the owners themselves basically have little expertise in interior design. As a result, it is conceivable that they may not focus on the entrance area when deciding on the layout. It is also thought that, especially in small rooms, the space of the entrance is often sacrificed in favor of securing the living space as the first priority.

On the other hand, this situation has been changing in recent years. Chinese consumers, like their Japanese counterparts, are gradually beginning to place more emphasis on privacy. As a result, the function of the entrance has also become more important in recent years. At the same time as the living environment is getting better, some rooms are increasingly equipped with an entrance area.

Hidden storage and Uncovered storage

One of the images that Chinese people have of Japanese homes is that they have good storage space. In Japan, various storage spaces such as walk-in closets, shoe closets, and storage rooms are designed from the beginning. In China, on the other hand, there is still little awareness of designing such spaces from the beginning. Also, the difference in storage can be seen in the way vacuum cleaners are placed.

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Vacuum cleaner stored in Japanese household (left) and a vacuum cleaner placed directly on the floor in Chinese household (right).
（Source: Lifestyle database Consumer Life Panorama）
（For an overview of Consumer Life Panorama here）

In Japan, people are often careful to store items that take up a lot of space, like vacuum cleaners, as much as possible. For this reason, many households store them in specialized storage spaces such as shoe closets, walk-in closets, or storage rooms. In China, on the other hand, vacuum cleaners and other cleaning tools are still often left directly in plain sight rather than stored somewhere. There are many reasons for this, but one possible reason is that the apartment was handed over as a skeleton, so the developer did not consider the space outside the basic structure. Another possible cause is that the developer may be more concerned about ease of use than storage.

【What is Consumer Life Panorama?】

Intage's web-based database of real consumer lifestyles in Japan and overseas.
The database can be used to intuitively understand the daily flow of life, living environment, and digital life.
To view the Consumer Life Panorama demo site here.
For an overview of Consumer Life Panorama here.

Translated with AI Translator

Author profile

(Mr.) Yang Yan

A Chinese researcher living in Japan, providing information on the living conditions of overseas consumers, mainly of Chinese consumers. I am always worried about my storage space because I’m not able to declutter.
Editor profile

Yusuke Tatsuda

Responsible for building the Global Market Surfer website. Japanese clients are often surprised to learn that there is no such thing as an entrance area (genkan) in other countries when they make home visits. I believe that a country's living space, the home, truly shows its character.

May 31, 2021
5275 Views

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