Here's a little something about something that is quite Japanese and is well-known as such, but rarely will it come up in a conversation when people discuss the nuances about Japan. So allow me to elucidate.
Japanese homes will often have rice paper coverings or blinds instead of glass in a window frame. Called shoji, it literally means something that blocks a passage through - and have been in use since the 8th century - though not originally as a window blind.
Shoji rice paper window blinds are opaque, and to provide more strength to the paper, are placed atop a wooden frame. These decorative blinds are used nowadays to aid in the blockage of sunlight into rooms, while at the same time allowing enough light in to make the room cozy.
Shoji were first introduced back in the 8th century in Japan. At that time, Japanese homes rarely had separate rooms, so back in the 8th century, shoji screens were introduced to lend more of an air of privacy. The shoji were made into folding screens, and rolled up rattan blinds.
In the 12th century, the akari shoji (light blind) was developed - and resembles what we see nowadays in some Japanese homes.
Somewhere my blinds are making me hungry,
Andrew Joseph
Today's title is by Manfred Mann's Earth Band: DIGIT ... I like this version even though Bruce Springsteen wrote it and originally performed it first.
PS: Behind the two ladies (night school students of mine with the Ohtawara International Friendship Association who owned a wonderful restaurant that they shut down one night just to serve me!) is shoji.
