Paper windows that let in light: Shoji screens speak to the aesthetics of tranquility

"Paper Windows Enveloping Light - The Aesthetics of Silence Revealed by Shoji Screens"

Shoji screens are not just building materials.
It is a "paper window" that gently envelops light, lets in breezes, and subtly conveys the signs of the seasons.
The moment when the morning light filtering into a Japanese home softly spreads through the shoji screen.
It's so quiet, it's as if the air is reading poetry.

Shoji screens originated in the Heian period.
Its prototype is said to be the "akari shoji" screens used to separate spaces in the "shinden-zukuri" style residences of aristocrats.
At that time, people came up with the idea of ​​using lattices covered with Japanese paper to keep out the cold wind while still allowing soft light into the room.
This "akari shoji" was truly the crystallization of wisdom for living in harmony with nature.

As time goes on, shoji screens evolve.
During the Kamakura period, they began to function as sliding doors, and during the Edo period, beautiful lattice patterns known as "Kumiko" appeared.
It then spread to the lives of ordinary people.

The appeal of shoji screens is not just their functionality.
The shadows cast through the washi paper, the sound of the paper rustling in the wind, and the ritual of changing it every season.
All of these create "space" and "white space" in our daily lives.

For example, "Snow Viewing Shoji Screens."
It has glass at the bottom and was made so that the winter garden can be viewed from inside the house.
It's like a window through which you can make eye contact with the snow spirits.

Or "nekoma shoji."
A shoji screen with a small window designed to allow cats to enter and exit freely.
It's so adorable and brings a sense of playfulness to everyday life.

Shoji screens exist between light and shadow.
Rather than completely blocking out the outside world, it allows a soft transparency, bringing you closer to nature.
It is as if this is the very essence of the Japanese aesthetic sense of "feeling what cannot be seen."