exhibited in
the small alcove framed by natural pillars. All these are elements of the
traditional Japanese room. Exploring the development of these elements and
their use in traditional interiors is the topic of this quarter's article.For many years we have been distributing The Yoshino Newsletter by mail, now with the popularity of the internet we have moved to posting our newsletter online. We hope you enjoy these informative articles written to increase your knowledge and interest about Japanese antiques and culture.
If you have ever walked through a traditional Japanese room, what stands
out in your mind? Tatami mats under your stocking feet, shoji panels filtering
the outside light, a flower arrangement and a painted scroll exhibited in
the small alcove framed by natural pillars. All these are elements of the
traditional Japanese room. Exploring the development of these elements and
their use in traditional interiors is the topic of this quarter's article.
In Atsushi Ueda's In Harmony of the Japanese House, he states that " the history of Japanese architecture is the struggle with the pillar ", much the same way that Le Corbusier said that Europe's architectural history was "the struggle with the window." In that statement Ueda sets forth the basic differences in architecture of West and East, particularly Japan. In the west, we use the outer and interior walls to bear the load of the building. In Japan, the pillar ( post and beam construction) bears that load and is the element that defines the design.
All civilizations use the materials in their building construction which are the most prevalent. In the case of Europe, stone seemed the logical building material, in Japan with its vast forests it was wood. The architecture of Japan is a response to its natural environment: its weather, its geography and its harmony with all of those elements. European structures were built as barriers against the forces of nature. It's the"man with nature, man vs. nature" philosophies which set the ground rules for differences between Japan and western cultures in art, literature and also building construction.
Long before Buddhism brought temple architecture to Japan from mainland
Asia, simple forms of post and beam construction were used in shelters as
far back as the Jomon period. Post and beams continued 
to be used for
all different types of building as architecture changed through the following
periods up to the introduction of Buddhism and its temple construction.
Post and beam and flexible joinery provided a viable building construct
in a land where earthquakes and typhoons were not an uncommon occurrence.
In most traditional farmhouses or townhomes you find the daikokubashira,
or main pillar, on a foundation stone somewhere in the middle of the structure,
or you may find three pillars in a line. All these pillars bear the majority
of the building load. With the load taken care of, it frees up other pillars
in the house to act as furnishing pillars, i.e. to be used for attachment
of lighter walls and other interior furnishings.
Evolution of Architecture and Interior Styles
It is important to understand the evolution of architectural styles in order to understand how the interiors evolved as well. From the Heian period through the mid Edo Period (792- 1750) there were three major residential architectural syles which evolved : shinden -zukuri, shoin -zukuri, and sukiya -zukuri.
Shinden-zukuri
Residential dwellings of the nobility first appeared in the Heian period
with the shinden-zukuri style of 
architecture. Shinden
style copied the example of the Buddhist temple worship halls. It was copied
from the T'ang dynasty bisymmetrical structures. The halls are connected
to one another by roofed passageways. The interior of the shinden style
was also like worship halls which were open except for round pillars. The
center of the main hall was called the moya and was surrounded by
two sets of pillars. The interior space was partitioned through the clever
use of folding screens, byobu, reed curtains, sudare and curtain
stands, kicho. The flooring was wooden planks. There were cushions
and rush mats used for sitting and sleeping. There was a small room called
the nurigome used for sl
eeping or storage. This
style was used by the nobility and high ranking samurai through the mid
15th century. When you see paintings of Tale of Genji you are seeing the
shinden-zukuri style of architecture. This style afforded little protection
from the cold winters which accounted for the many layers of clothing which
was the style of the time. Currently no older examples of this style exist,
the closest that can be found is the 19th century version of the Imperial
Palace in Kyoto which is pictured to the right.
Shoin-zukuri
The next style to emerge is called the shoin-zukuri style. The shoin
was originally the name given to the abbot's quarters in a Zen temple. Shoin
means library or study. The oldest extant example of shoin- 
zukuri is the
Dojinsai room in the Togudo at Ginkakuji (Silver Pavilion). This small room
was built by Ashikaga Yoshimasa in 1486. The shoin style evolved from the
shinden style over the course of two centuries. The shoin style eventually
became a grand and large setting meant for the pomp of the feudal warlords.
It was a larger, massive feeling with much ornamentation. The utilization
of square cut pillars (as opposed to the round of the shinden style) allowed
sills and lintels to be easily installed between them. This, in turn, expanded
the ways interior space could be partitioned through the use of shoji
and fusuma panels. Tatami began to cover the entire floor
area with some rooms over one hundred tatami in size. An existing example
of shoin style is the Ninomaru Hall of Nijo Castle in Kyoto. The mature
shoin style incorporates all the familar elements of traditional Japanese
interiors: shoji, fusuma, tatami as the floor covering, tokomona, chigaidana,
and tsukeshoin. but does so in a grand and opulent manner. These
elements will be explained in more detail later.
Sukiya-zukuri
The last style of residential architecture we will discuss is the sukiya
-zukuri. The sukiya style came from
the tea ceremony,
in fact the word sukiya refers to the building in which the tea ceremony
is performed. The sukiya style which evolved from the Azuchi- Momoyama period
and shoin style, was in direct contrast to the grand and magnificent settings
of the shoin-zukuri. In the sukiya, the smaller and simpler is considered
the best design. Some tea huts went from six tatami down to 1 3/4 tatami
in size. Sukiya style combined a smaller, simpler setting with the features
of a more delicate, natural and unornamented style. The incorporation of
the sukiya with the shoin developed into the sukiya-zukuri. This style became
the popular style for townspeople's residences in the mid to late Edo period
(1750 -1867). It is this style that most represents the traditional Japanese
interior. It is also this style that has contributed to the compressed living
space of Japanese life. The classical example of sukiya-zukuri is the Katsura
Imperial Villa (Detached Palace) built in the mid to late 1600's
Let's now discuss some of the elements of traditional interiors, starting from the floor up to the ceiling.
Floors/Tatami
It's always good to start with our feet on the ground, or in this case
the floor. As most are aware, the floors in tradtional houses were raised
off the ground. This building convention was not always the case, as the
people of the Jomon period (30,000B.C -300B.C.) were pit dwellers. They
dug rectangular holes in the ground and covered them by leaning logs against
posts and ridge poles. The dirt floors were covered with straw. Toward the
end of the subsequent Yayoi period (ca. 300A.D.) raised 
floors began to
be built to house grain. The benefits of raised floors in the granaries
was not wasted on the nobility who began living in such structures. From
that time on, the ruling classes always lived in structures elevated from
the ground. The lower classes remained living on mat covered dirt floors
for many centuries to come. The predominant flooring for the nobility was
wooden planks. Their elevation from the ground raised the inhabitants from
the dampness and provided ventilated relief from the hot humid summers.
A drawing of a Nara period court residence is pictured to the left. Raised
flooring dictated a floor living style that did not require furniture designed
to raise the inhabitants from the dampness. Seating was at floor level.
From the Kofun period to the Heian period seating was usually on round,
thick straw woven mats called warouda. The ranking of court nobility
dedictated that different levels had to be developed. This was done through
tatami type mats.
The word tatami comes from the verb tatamu, which means
to fold or pile up. During the Heian period 
okitatami
were thin mats which were used only in isolated areas. Again the flooring
was predominately the wooden planks. Okitatami were versatile, they could
be used for cushions, stools, and sleeping mats depending on whether they
were folded or not. Piling the tatami up higher indicated the ranking of
court individuals. Also cloth edging color and design were also an indication
of rank in the court. By the Muromachi period, tatami had evolved into the
form with which we are familar, a thick mat base of woven rice straw, toko,
covered by woven rush, igusa.. Tatami size is said to have been
determined by the sleeping area of a person. The introduction of the shoin-zukuri
style expanded the use of tatami as the entire floor covering over the wooden
planks. Tatami became the unit of measure of room size.
Many believe that there is just one size of tatami, approximately six
feet by three feet. In fact, there are 
now three standard sizes
depending on geography. Kyoto style tatami are 6.3 ft. by 3.1 ft., Nagoya
tatami are 6 ft. by 3 ft., and Tokyo (Edoma) are 5.8 ft. by 2.9 ft. These
differences relate to the regional perception of space or lack thereof.
There are also half sized mats called hanjo, and three/quarter size
mats used in the tea ceremony called daime-datami. Every several
years tatami should be stripped of the woven rush cover and recovered by
a professional tatami maker. When the new covering is first put on, it is
a beautiful green color, which eventually changes to a yellow straw color
when exposed to any sunlight. Sleeping on new tatami smells like sleeping
on new mown hay. The cloth borders on tatami are called herinumo.
Some borders have very fancy designs woven into them but the borders of
tatami for the tea ceremony tend to be very simple, either in black or a
single subdued color. Depending on the number, tatami can be placed into
a number of different patterns. Tatami have to be periodically aired out
to prevent mold or mildew. Newer tatami are now made with bases of polystyrene
instead of rice straw. These are usually lighter and less susceptable to
mold but do not have quite the same feeling underfoot. Neither shoes nor
slippers are to be worn while walking on tatami. Tatami can be maintained
by wiping them with a damp cloth or vacuuming.
Shoji/ Fusuma
The advantage of post and beam construction is that there are no bearing
walls. The fact that the building's load is taken by the pillars frees the
walls and interior partitions to be not only light in weight but also mobile
as well. The traditional house is really one large room that has numerous
partitions. That is why you can transform a sitting room into a banquet
room just by taking down the shoji and fusuma 
doors. Fusuma
are the opaque sliding doors seen in the interior of the house. Their origins
come from the screens imported from China. Their function in the house is
two-fold. They partition the interior rooms of the house and they provide
artistic decoration since they are usually painted with a scene of some
sort. Fusuma have graced the interiors of castles and temples for centuries.
Some of the greatest artists have painted masterpieces on fusuma doors.
Shoji are the lattice frame sliding doors which are covered with translucent
paper made from mulberry bark (sorry, rice paper is a misnomer). They usually
partition the interior from the exterior, and subsequently the outer bounderies
of the tatami. Walking on the tatami side of the shoji requires bare or
stocking feet; on the other side slippers or shoes are acceptable. Shoji's
translucence allows diffused light to filter into the house. It also provides
the observer an patterns of shadow and light.
The transformation into fusuma and shoji took hundreds and hundreds of years. The first partitions followed the example of the outer doors which were plank boards placed in a frame. The boards were eventually covered with heavy paper which could be used as a decorative canvas for an artist. The boards eventually gave way to a lighter lattice frame around the early Heian period. Eventually translucent paper, shojigomi , was glued to the lattice frame and fusuma shoji were invented. Eventually just the word shoji was used to differentiate it from fusuma, although the formal name is akari shoji.. Shoji can be designed in many different ways depending on the design of the lattice frame.There are shoji called yukimi-shoji, or snow viewing shoji which incorporate a glass window in the lower portion of the door, a vertical shoji sliding panel can be raised revealing the window.
Tokonoma
One of the main features of the shoin style was the development of the
tokonoma, the alcove used to display art. The shinden style, while good
for displaying art on byobu, was not conducive for kakemono, 
wall scrolls. These imported scrolls from the Sung dynasty were becoming
an increasingly popular art form with the nobility and samurai. The solution
was to establish an area where these hanging scrolls could be appreciated
on an ongoing basis. Initially a wall of vertical wood planks was set up
in a specified area. A more permanent area called the oshiita
was the precursor to the tokonoma, it was wide and shallow in depth. There,
one or two scrolls were hung along with a table on which were the mitsugusoku
: the incense burner , flower vase and the candleholder. Eventually
a raised dais was also established with the wall.
It was not until the shoin-zukuri that the tokonoma became the permanent
formal area of art display. Initially the term tokonoma included the entire
room where the oshiita was present, but eventually just the alcove was called
the tokonoma. There are several components of the tokonoma that are usually
present.
First there is the tokobashira, the alcove pillar
or post. The post defines the tokonoma's area as does the dais or stand.
In the chaistu , the tea hut, the tokobashira is usually made from
an unplaned trunk of a tree such as a cherry or cedar. Scrolls are placed
in the center wall of the tokonoma. Flower arrangements and okimono are
placed on the dais in front of it. To the other side of the tokonoma one
might find a desk, tsukeshoin , with a staggered set of shelves,
chigai-dana. On the side wall there is usually a window of some form
to let in light. Each tokonoma is unique to the space available for it.
The main guest of honor is to be seated next to the tokonoma, however, because of the seating arrangements the guest of honor's back is to the tokonoma. Actually, the host has the best view of the tokonoma while talking to the guest, which is probably fitting since the host has spent the time carefully choosing the right scroll for the occasion. The guests generally have the best view of the garden which is often directly opposite that of the tokonoma.
Ramma
Because the typical fusuma or shoji is under six feet in height, there
is usually space in between the runners, lintel and ceiling. Ramma, or transom
pieces, are used to decoratively fill those spaces. They also serve the
practical purpose of allowing ventillation and light into the interior of
house. Ramma can be carved three dimensional scenes, slatted wood or small
sliding shoji panels. Generally, the more intricately carved and three dimensional,
the older the ramma. Ramma can have lacquered wood frames or natural finish.
Ceilings
Typically, ceilings in traditional Japanese homes are lower than what we experience in the west. The tendency in Japan was to lower the ceiling height as the floor space became smaller, in the west we generally do the opposite. There are several reasons for this. First is that the living style was at floor level so perception of the ceiling height was different from that of chair levels. The other reason has always been that "high ceilings make for cold winters and dim lighting" as Yoshida Kenko stated during the Kamakura period. So there was a practical reason for wanting to keep ceiling heights low.
Ceiling heights did change in Japan as the architecture changed. Most traditional rooms are based on the sukiya-zukuri, in other words, based on the tea ceremony hut. The tea hut is based on the hermit's hut, which is small and compact. In the typical tea room there are various ceiling heights from the entrance to the middle to the position of the host's tea preparation area. Not only are the heights different, the style of ceiling can change as well. In the tea room the style follows the shin-gyo-so aesthetic, flowing from formal into informal. These styles were transferred to the living quarters of the typical Japanese home during the Edo period. Usually, when a traditional Japanese room is recreated in the west it is invariably the ceiling height which throws off the scale in the room. It looks like a Japanese room but it doesn't quite feel like one because we have placed our perception of the right ceiling height into the equation.
Contemporary style
During the Meiji period more buildings were built in Western style and the architecture tried to blend the western and Japanese forms together. So it evolved into something that is not entirely one or the other but an amalgamation of the two. Sometimes it was done successfully other times not. It appears that the final evolution for the traditional Japanese interior is to go the way of the dodo bird; it is on the endangered species list. After the war, homes were built in a quasi Japanese and western style. But there was at least one room that was done in a traditional style. Now, more homes are being built without the inclusion of the traditional sitting room with no more tatami, futon sleeping, shoji, fusuma or tokonoma. As the next generation emerges they are evolving as well. They are taller, larger than the previous generation. They no longer want to "live on the floor" and they are looking for more affordable housing. What this means to the evolution of scale and the future of architecture in Japan will be interesting to see over the next decades.