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Right now, Asia is in our i-List and the third country we're examining in depth this month, Japan,

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where there's a growing trend to make homes more and more compact,

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some, believe it or not, about he size of a parking space.

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It is amazing how efficiently space can be used when you're determined enough.

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You'll see in this report from Kyung Lah.

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This is no trick of the lens.

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Super thin, ultra-compact, the kitchen-living-dining-room, the size of an American walk-in closet.

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Fuyuhito Moriya and his mom, Yoko, call this tiny three-story, single-family...uh, space...home.

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Space-saving sliding curtains replace doors. Appliances tucked under counters or hidden in cabinets.

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Half-sized sinks. Oversized windows and glass doors to create the illusion of space.

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Shoes stashed in stairway nooks.

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Zenbu corner?

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Zenbu.

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Every single corner is used.

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Hai.

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Even the staircase is designed to shave inches. This is a spiral staircase, but how does this save space.

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It's triangular, says Moriya, "shrinking the diameter of the spiral.

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What are the challenges of living in a small house, in an ultra-small house?

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Getting enough outside light in, says Moriya. "And keeping junk to an absolute minimum."

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The Moriya's only have two coffee cups in the house.

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While living in cramped quarters is nothing new here in space-starved Tokyo. Ultra-small houses redefine small.

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This house sites on 30 square meters, the space where you'd ordinarily park just one car.

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This was originally a parking space. Moriya didn't have enough money to build a full-sized house.

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But I heard about ultra-small houses in Japan, he says.

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I thought this is doable by building the rooms on top of each other instead of just side-by-side.

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This isn't just doable in today's economy, but necessary, says architect Junichi Sugiyama.

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Sugiyama is designing a single-family home on this small plot of land, about five steps across.

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That's a third of the size of the already modest Japanese home and half the cost.

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What percentage of the business now is ultra-small houses?

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They make up about 70 percent of our business, says Sugiyama, but he says it's not because people want these tiny homes,

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more that fewer people are able to afford a standard-sized home in a stagnant economy.

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Moriya spent about US$500,000 to build his home -- a bargain for your own new home in modern Tokyo.

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But there are compromises.

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Is privacy ever a challenge because your mother lives with you?

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Yeah, it's a problem, notes this 39-year-old single man.

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He shares a bedroom with his mom. Six months living here, it's been a little touch-and-go they both say,

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but at the end of the day, they are property owners. Home sweet small home.