I’m super impressed about Japanese people’s ability to rethink the strongest elements of our lives. No one in the West would try to build a house like this one. Check out the floor plan and imagine living like this everyday.
I’m sure it’s pretty great! First cooling and heating (aka feeling good in your home) are probably excellent with this shape. Second, while providing privacy and views, this shape is also nice to the neighbors; you can see on the first picture how it lets sunlight flow into the house next door when a square, traditional house wouldn’t have allowed this.
The ability to question, re-invent and adapt is core to design. Japan excels at that.