The aesthetics and historical development of a Japanese house is informed by an intellectual leap that occurred in the 14th century, seeking to ‘eliminate the inessential’. This trend was followed by powerful warlords as well as common people, and became the dominant aesthetic force in the country. This philosophy evolved into the concept of wabi-sabi, an aesthetic system of simplicity, minimalism, rusticity and understatement. A sense of spaciousness is sought within small areas and the temporal is understood and appreciated.