Before LaJuan, 32, moved into his micro-apartment in Nagoya, , he was worried. The and part-time English teacher wasn't sure what to expect; he had never lived in such a tiny home before. The shoebox apartment was merely 194 square feet, with a divider separating the living and sleeping space from the kitchen and toilet.
With his arms outstretched, he was even able to touch both walls of his kitchen. It was going to take some time to get used to, but LaJuan wasn't about to back down from the challenge since living minimally was his goal. "When I saw the apartment, I realized it fit in really well with one of what I consider the tenants for ," LaJuan, who asked to be identified by only his first name to protect his privacy, told Business Insider.
Hailing from Trinidad and Tobago, LaJuan first in 2016 on a teaching exchange program after college. "At that time, my goal in life was to be an ambassador. I studied international relations in college, and I thought the exchange would be really good for my résumé," LaJuan said.
But getting used to life in a new country was tough, especially since he wasn't quite fluent in the Japanese language yet. "I sat with my thoughts a lot, and I realized I didn't really want to be an ambassador. I was just kind of pursuing something for the sake of it," he said.
After about three years in Japan, he went back to to be with his family when his grandmother was diagnosed with cancer. His return coincided with the pandemic, and his grandmother e.