Shōji

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"Shoji" redirects here. For other uses see Shoji (disambiguation).

Japanese room with sliding shoji doors and tatami flooring

In traditional Japanese architecture, a shōji (障子) is a room divider or door consisting of translucent washi paper over a wooden frame. Shoji doors are often designed to slide open, or fold in half, to conserve space that would be required by a swinging door. They are used in traditional houses as well as western-style housing, especially in the washitsu, and are now regarded in Japan as a necessity in looking Japanese.

Shoji screens appeared in the times of Han dynasty (200BC – 200AD). They were made from washi paper. The most wide-spread variations of Shoji screens are tobusuma and fusuma. Earlier such screens were used as partitions, back stages while dances or performances, for tea ceremonies. As a rule, Shoji screens were brightly decorated with native paintings. Original Shoji screens were rather heavy and made mainly from wood. Often they were used together with special shoji lanterns.