The Mark of Beauty： Shoji screens

Shoji screens were used since the Heian period (794–1185) as interior fittings for traditional Japanese buildings.  Originally they were for separating room from room, or interior from exterior, but their distinctive ability to "allow light to pass" by utilizing washi paper panels enriched Japanese domestic culture and became an indispensable part of home life.

The source material for shoji paper is mulberry fiber.  The bark of the mulberry tree is peeled away to the inner white layer, which is soaked in water. The scum of water-soluble impurities is removed and the fibers softened. Traditionally, the method of "river bleaching" involved soaking the mulberry bark in the flowing water of a river for two or three days. After this, it goes through a series of processes, including boiling, removing discolored parts, and beating, before eventually reaching the stage of dipping with a screen to make the paper sheets. 

After the process of rocking the fiber into sheets, the moisture is pressed out by applying pressure, then the sheets are separated and pasted onto boards using a special brush and sun-dried.

Used in conjunction with glass, shoji add richness to living spaces. Author Osaragi Jiro's beloved Seseragi (Murmuring Brook) Room — When all the half-glass yukimi (snow-viewing) shoji are opened …

The Kiri (Paulownia) #3 Room was a favorite room of the author Kawabata Yasunari, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature. The intricate woodwork of the shoji screens recreate the scenery of Hakone. Scenes of the sunrise at daybreak and a mist-covered mountain are depicted like landscapes within the shoji screens themselves

Shoji can create a graceful connection with the outside world.