When I came to Japan my head was filled with silly stereotypes of delicate wooden houses with paper walls. The reality, of course, was…pretty accurate, at least in the case of my house, a 40+-year-old wooden structure with a liquor shop built into the first floor and a second floor that was added when I moved in. Nearly all houses in Japan today combine both Western and Japanese features, for example having a 洋間 yoh-ma or “Western-style room” with a sofa and chairs right next to a 和室 washitsu or “Japanese room,” with tatami mats, recessed alcoves for displaying art and other traditional features. One of the hallmarks of Japanese architecture are shoji doors, lightweight wooden frames with paper covering them which let light in yet retain heat when closed. As with many other aspects of Japanese life, shoji paper doors have a very long history, dating at least from the Heian Period (794-1185). While foreigners may love the look of these traditional Japanese rooms, they’re not universally popular among Japanese people. Being made of paper, they don’t provide much in the way of meaningful privacy, and children and cats love to poke holes in them. I’ve heard shoji paper doors are a contributing factor in Japan’s “sexless” marriage problem, since who would want to do the horizontal tango with the kids or (ulp) in-laws just a paper door away?
Paper doors are a symbol of Japan.
