Washitsu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A washitsu (和室?), or Japanese-style room, is a traditional Japanese-style room with tatami flooring, and possibly shoji and a tokonoma. It usually has fusuma, sliding, rather than hinged, doors.
In the past, all Japanese rooms were washitsu, and Japanese people slept on the floor above the tatami on futons. Nowadays, many Japanese houses have only one washitsu, which is used for entertaining guests, and most rooms are Western-style. Many new construction Japanese apartments do not have washitsu at all, instead using linoleum or hardwood floors.
The size of a washitsu is measured by the number of tatami mats, using the counter word jō (畳). Typical sizes are six or eight tatami mats in a private home. There are also half-sized mats, as in a 4.5 tatami room.
The furniture in a washitsu may include a low table at which a family may eat dinner or entertain guests, while sitting on a cushion called a zabuton or a low chair intended for use on tatami. A kotatsu is a particular type of low table that contains a heating element used in the wintertime. It is particularly important as most Japanese homes do not have central heating.
