TokyoWaltz
Tokonoma alcove with a hanging scroll and flower arrangement in a Japanese room

Tokonoma

A tokonoma is a raised or defined alcove in a formal Japanese room for displaying a scroll, flowers, or selected objects.

Futon bedding arranged on tatami beside a low table in a ryokan room

Futon

In Japan, futon are portable bedding—especially a floor mattress and quilt—that can be laid on tatami and stored to free the room by day.

Painted fusuma panels in a formal tatami room at Nishi Honganji

Fusuma

Fusuma are opaque sliding panels used to divide rooms and close storage in Japanese interiors, often carrying paper, textiles, or painting.

Yukimi shoji screens framing a view of a snowy Japanese garden

Shōji

Shōji are light-transmitting sliding or fixed fittings that use a lattice and translucent material to shape light, privacy, and movement.

Japanese-style room with tatami flooring, shoji, and a tokonoma alcove

Tatami

Tatami are modular floor mats whose materials, proportions, arrangement, and uses have helped organize Japanese interior space for centuries.