Shoji Screens

[ArmandV]

Traditional Japanese homes have shoji screens in place of curtains and, in some cases, glass. A question came up with a friend. She made the comment that Japanese homes just have no privacy with these shoji screens.

Do contemporary Japanese homes have also solid doors besides the shoji screen doors? Is there a mix or are the Japanese moving away from having rooms with just shoji screens?

The inns I've been to have both, but I am curious if the common Japanese home has both.

 

[nice gaijin]

In the houses I've been, the only rooms that use shoji screens as dividers were washitsu. The rest of the house has walls and doors and curtains.

 

[ArmandV]

In the houses I've been, the only rooms that use shoji screens as dividers were washitsu. The rest of the house has walls and doors and curtains.

Thanks, NG. Do all Japanese homes have a washitsu room?

 

[nice gaijin]

Come to think of it, all of the ones I've been to, including traditional and modern bessou (summer homes, both individual houses and apartment-style) have had a washitsu. I think it's a pretty common fixture in most Japanese homes, but there are most likely exceptions.

 

[Elizabeth]

I've been to a couple modern homes and apartments that didn't have one. Or may have been an original, now carpeted tatami ? There really isn't a practical element for their relevance with the possible exception of sitting around a low table kotatsu in buildings without central heating.

 

[nice gaijin]

i think their purposes vary depending on the household. I've seen them used as main or extra bedrooms/guest rooms, multi-purpose rooms for play or study (especially with the kotatsu like Elizabeth mentioned). Another common fixture in them is the family butsudan/mini altar. When I visited a tea master's house, she had a special washitsu for the tea ceremony .

 

[Dogen Z]

Traditional Japanese Home

Looking at real estate ads, most new homes/apartments today seem to be western style without a washitsu. I guess it's no longer functional and younger home buyers don't have an emotional attachment for such a room.

BTW, a fusuma (sliding door) and a shoji (screen room divider) serve different purposes. Digging through my old notes I found this:

The 3 common elements of traditional Japanese homes were tatami, fusuma, and shoji.

The most striking feature of the Japanese home was lack of privacy. It is impossible to live under such condition for very long without a common household identity emerging which naturally takes precedence over individual wishes.

The uchi was constituted according to a principle of indivisbility. The system of moveable screens meant that rooms cound be used by all the family and for all purposes. Walls were build around the uchi, not inside it.