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Shohin display
and bonsai displaying
In this example, a mix between
the formal (shin) and the less formal (gyo) style is used.
The scroll is placed in the
centre, but there is added a modern pot to the image, that makes this set-up
more informal and very personal
in style. Tokonoma, summer display at the home of Daizo Iwasaki, Japan.
Tokonoma
A tokonoma is about the size of about one or a half tatami mat and is set
into a wall of a Japanese-style room. This is a place to put up scrolls or
display flower arrangements and of course bonsai.
The floor is made of wood and is one step higher than the rest of the room.
Usually in the west the tokonoma build for bonsai display is higher than a step
from the floor. But a tokonoma should be lower because it is the meaning that
the viewer sits when he or she looks at the tokonoma or bends to see the display
properly. This is the basic, but of course differences in culture and practical
as well as aesthetical preferences may produce other measures and arrangements.
In the past, the tokonoma was a place where divinities were worshiped, but
from the Muromachi (1392-1573) and the Azuchi-Momoyama Period (1573-1603) on it
became a standard built-in feature with a decorative purpose. Recently, however
in the average residence, there are many floor plans without tokonoma.
Tatami have been used since the Heian Period (794-1185). At that time they
were laid out for the purpose of sitting. From the Muromachi Period (1392-1573)
tatami mats also were used to cover the whole floor. Tatami mats are made of
straw bundled in layers, stitched together and the surface is covered tightly
with woven rushes.
A tatami mat measures about 90 x 180 cm, and the size of a Japanese room is
expressed by its number of tatami mats.
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