Tokyo 8 Square Meters Author: [Japanese] Yoshii Shinobu Publisher: Shanghai Joint Publishing Company

Introduction
Living in 8 square meters, you can enjoy the whole world
Tokyo Eight Square Meters is a new collection of essays by Japanese-Chinese writer Shinobu Yoshii. Eight square meters is called "four and a half tatami mats" in Japan, which means a room with only four and a half tatami mats and cheap rent.
Because the eight-square-meter room had no kitchen, refrigerator, bathroom, or washing machine, she wrote enthusiastically about how to eat, live, and the daily life of ordinary Japanese people. Living in a cramped space, she extended her life to the streets and public spaces of the city, writing about Tokyo's laundries, sento, cafes, 24-hour comic cafes, independent cinemas, small restaurants, etc., and also wrote about the stories of ordinary people in Tokyo she met. These characters are "invisible, real Tokyo people", and their stories lay out the various aspects of the Japanese world for us, and also reflect ourselves.
In a lonely city, how can people find their own place and meaning of existence? Shinobu Yoshii's "eight square meters" economics allows people to see the possibility of a fresh and vibrant life: saving expensive rent, simplifying material demands, and enjoying a rich spiritual and cultural life in the city. The city can also be a mobile home, and a person can be happy and self-sufficient.
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【Specially recommended】
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In a lonely city, how can people find their own place and meaning of existence? Shinobu Yoshii's "eight square meters" economics allows people to see the possibility of a fresh and vibrant life: saving expensive rent, simplifying material demands, enjoying a rich spiritual and cultural life in the city, and finding comfort and belonging in their own way. The city can also be a mobile home, and a person can be happy and self-sufficient.
Tokyo used to be a frequent visitor to the top of the list of "the most expensive cities in the world", but this was just the prejudice of foreign journalists who had learned a little about Tokyo. Tokyo is actually a good place to live. I have always held this injustice in my heart, which has become the basic motivation for me to write many articles and books related to Tokyo in the past.
Tokyo, Kyoto, Shanghai, Beijing... No matter what city, Yoshii is good at finding a house at a reasonable price. Sometimes her residence is only big enough for sleeping, but outside the house, there are convenient urban facilities at any time. Your favorite restaurant can be used as your own dining room, the coffee shop becomes your living room, the bookstore and library are the study, and the gym is a bathroom with a sauna.
Treat the city as an extension of your own room and use it freely. Yoshii understands the secret of this "urban survival skill" very well. It's like animals can instinctively find the most comfortable place to build a nest, and also like they simply leave the nest and fly away when the time comes.
——Kyoichi Tsuzuki (independent editor and photographer)
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【Editor's recommendation】
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★ Living in eight square meters, you own the whole world. Shinobu Yoshii's "eight square meters" economics shows another possibility of urban life. A new collection of essays by Japanese-Chinese writer Shinobu Yoshii, dedicated to those who are about to create a new life. -- Twenty years after leaving Japan, Shinobu Yoshii returned to Tokyo, rented an eight-square-meter room in the center of Tokyo, and rebuilt her life there. Eight square meters is the origin of life, and the entire city of Tokyo is the extension of life. The separation of material and spiritual things brings economic space and physical and mental freedom. Shinobu Yoshii's "eight square meters" economics provides another possibility of life for every modern person who is exhausted physically and mentally: cherish the present moment, find the comfort and sense of belonging you need in your own way, and give you the vitality to continue living tomorrow.
★ How to live comfortably in an 8-square-meter room without a kitchen, refrigerator, bathroom, or washing machine? A guide to the in-depth exploration of Tokyo, a new type of urban "snail dwelling" life. The city can also be a mobile home, and a person can be happy and self-sufficient. ——Because the space of an 8-square-meter room is cramped, daily life extends to the streets and public spaces of Tokyo: laundries, sento, comic cafes, small restaurants, cafes, in addition to weekly independent cinema tours, listening to Rakugo, learning shamisen, and visiting exhibitions. Convenient and comfortable public spaces, vibrant multiculturalism, and enthusiastic and vibrant urban life, your "smallness" is not a problem, because the world outside is big enough.
★ Everyone has their own "eight square meters". Go deep into the details of the city to visit the "neighborhood", tell the stories of Tokyo's civilians, and see real ordinary people. In a lonely city, how can people find their own place and the meaning of existence? - In a bustling city, occasional encounters bring gem-like memories: Mr. Osawa, the owner of the Jinxingtang Cafe, who is known as the "living dictionary", the sharp and humorous hostess of the Mako Coffee Shop who is almost ninety years old, the enthusiastic, kind and hardworking female owner of the soba noodle shop... The simple and sincere Tokyo people and the flowing and timeless Tokyo scenery present the true face of life. "I believe that everyone has their own eight square meters and their definition of it. It does not refer to the actual area, but to a certain place in the heart. Maybe eight square meters is a deformed state in the eyes of others, but it allows you to live in your own world. It may be a place or a person where you don't have to pretend, you can face yourself well and enjoy the present as much as possible."
★ Designed by the famous book cover designer Lu Zhichang, it is fresh and elegant, comfortable in texture, and cleverly echoes the layout of "four and a half mats". --Photographed by the famous photographer Kyoichi Tsuzuki and writer Shinobu Yoshii, more than 100 color pictures present the flowing scenery of "eight square meters" and the city of Tokyo. The whole book is printed on elegant book paper, which is soft to the touch, light and portable, suitable for reading in daily life and on the go.