This study is framed in relation to shifting socioeconomic and demographic conditions affecting single, young Japanese adults, their aspirations and life-courses, as well as forms and practices in Japanese housing. The authors elaborate on the way shea-hausu are provided, and discuss three sets of techniques that together configure shea-hausu as a product distinct from other forms of renting, but also re-script sharing as a particular kind of ‘desirable living’ among single young adults. Furthermore, they show how shea-hausu both enables the pursuit of new experiences of ‘home’ and further entrenches traditionalist views of the needs and wants of solo dwellers.

This paper has now been published open access in Social and Cultural Geography.