Shōji

"Shoji" redirects here. For other uses, see Shoji (disambiguation).

Japanese room with sliding shōji doors and tatami flooring

In traditional Japanese architecture, a shōji is a door, window or room divider consisting of translucent paper over a frame of wood which holds together a lattice of wood or bamboo. While washi is the traditional paper, shōji may be made of paper made by modern manufacturing processes; plastic is also in use.

Function

Shōji doors are often designed to slide open, and thus conserve space that would be required by a swinging door.

They are used in traditional houses as well as Western-style housing, especially in the washitsu (Japanese-style room). In modern construction, the shōji does not form the exterior surface of the building; it sits inside a sliding glass door or window.

In his book on Japanese aesthetics and architecture, In Praise of Shadows, the Japanese writer Jun'ichirō Tanizaki comments on the role of shōji in the interaction of light and shadows.

Terminology

Formerly the word shōji was used to refer to both fusuma, formally known as karagami shōji (唐紙障子), and shōji, referred to as akari shōji (明り障子).

See also

• Higashiyama period

External links

• Sukiya Living Magazine article about shōji screens
• "Shōji". Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System.