Shoji screens come from an origin in the history of Japan which no one to this date has been able to pin point. In the early days there were wooden exterior doors that had to be lifted up to be opened. Behind these doors was another door, which had wooden lattice covered with paper to let light in. By the 11th century, shoji had evolved into its present style.
These are two examples of basic shojis, handcrafted in the Japanese tradition using Port Orford Cedar, rice paper, and rice glue. However, in the stone tub above, I used plexiglass for the high humidity in this particular bath.
Shojis can be made to by-pass or slide, bi-fold, or be free-standing. The applications are endless and the structural design of each shoji can be modified to please many architectural requirements.
Many thanks to Toshio Odate for sharing his art of making shoji.
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