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Create your personal Japanese atmosphere! -
03-31-2007, 06:11 AM
Well, basically, I've always wanted to renovate my apartment in such a way that it'd have an undeniable Japanese theme to it. I think many people here must feel the same way, othewise they wouldn't be members of a Japanforum right, duh? Hey, why not? We could even exchange pointers, especially from those who actually live in Japan. Like what are some common decorations the Japanese usually embellish their houses with, etcetc.
 And yes, even the toilets  Some general info: In the crowded cities of Japan, land on which to build houses is scarce and expensive. Houses are jammed in together like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle. Many homes have little or no room for yards or lawns, and the smallest almost touch each other. Sometimes even a tiny space has a tree or two, with a beautifully shaped rock. In the suburbs, large homes have a small garden. Although main streets are six to eight lanes wide, streets in residential areas are very narrow, often with no sidewalk. Traditional houses are one- or two-storey structures with no basement. They are built of wood, often combined with plaster, and have roofs of clay tile or sometimes sheet metal. The wood, whether on the inside or the outside, is never painted. At least one of the outside walls consists of sliding glass or wooden sections. . These can be slid open in the daytime in summer to keep the house cool. Many of the inside walls also consist partly or mainly of sliding sections made of thin strips of wood covered with paper. People can slide open these walls between rooms to produce a feeling of space. In traditional houses, most rooms have one wall of built-in cupboards. In the bedrooms, living room and dining room, the floors are completely covered with thick, fixed mats called tatami (tah tah me), which are made of rush and padded underneath with straw. The halls, kitchen and bathroom have wood, tile or linoleum floors. In the middle of the dining room-living room is a large, low table. People sit on cushions placed on the floor around the table. But these days, even people who live in traditional houses often have a western dining table and chairs, plus some other pieces of western furniture. Because of the lack of space, the living room often doubles as a bedroom at night. Japanese do not usually sleep in beds. In a traditional room with a tatami floor, they sleep on mattresses called futons (fu t6nz'). At night, people pull their futons out from cupboards and place them on the floor. In the morning, they fold up their futons and put them away again. Using futons makes it easy to turn the living room into a bedroom. How are traditional Japanese homes different from your "home"? Modern houses are more common in the suburbs and middleclass areas of cities. They are also small, one- or two-storey buildings with no basement. They are built of wood, or wood and cement, often covered with stucco. From the outside, they look like Canadian houses, except for the tile or sheet metal roofs. Inside, some walls consist partly of sliding sections. Usually the kitchen and dining room are western style, with linoleum or carpet covering the wooden floor, and have western furniture. The bedrooms are usually traditional, with tatami on the floor. The living room is sometimes traditional and sometimes modern, with a carpeted floor and western furniture. In these houses, too, the living room often doubles as a bedroom. In most traditional and modern houses, the total floor space is 45 m2 (square metres) to 55 m2, about half that of an average Canadian house. In the country, however, there is a little more room, and farmhouses are much larger than houses in the city. They usually have a large yard around them and a few outbuildings like toolsheds, storehouses and barns. Many families cannot afford to buy a house, even in the suburbs, where prices are lower than in the city. These families live in small apartment buildings made of wood or in huge, high-rise concrete apartments. In both kinds of buildings, apartments are smaller than the average Japanese house. They usually have two bedrooms and a combination dining room-kitchen, or a combined dining room, living room and kitchen. Often the dining room is western, with a table and chairs. The bedrooms are mostly traditional, with a tatami floor. Before entering any house or apartment, the Japanese take off their shoes in the hall and put on slippers. They wear these slippers in the halls, kitchen, bathroom and western rooms. Before entering traditional rooms, people always take off their slippers and go in their stocking feet so that they will not rip or dirty the tatami. A long time ago, the ideal Japanese home was bare of most furnishings. Today, however, every type of home is crammed with possessions. Nearly every family owns a colour 1V set, refrigerator, washing machine, vacuum cleaner and telephone and some western furniture. Here's a nice little webbie I found ^_^ Japanese room interior design and materials: tatami, shoji, fusuma, tokonoma, kakejiku, ikebana, pottery, porcelain, tokobashira, juraku wall covering, ajiro ceiling panel, kotatsu, futon, furniture and lighting - Japanesespaces.com Eh, I'm not really sure if these are actual pictures of Japanese-styled apartments or Japanese hotel rooms, so please pardon and correct me if I make a mistake somewhere  A Japanese bedset  A Japanese room  A room with tatami, shoji (a translucent screen consisting of a wooden frame covered in rice paper, used as a sliding door or partition in a Japanese house) and fusuma (a light, sliding partition of thick paper mounted in grooves on the floor and the ceiling of a Japanese house and moved into various positions to form rooms).  Futons put away in a futon closet.  There's no such thing as happy endings, for when you find true love, happiness is everlasting.
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03-31-2007, 06:11 AM
A typical apartment kitchen with rice cooker and hot-water thermos on the table.
 An engawa (a veranda or terrace surrounding a house. These come in four types: nure-en [濡れ縁], kure-en [榑縁], kirime-en [切目縁] and takesunoko-en [竹簀の子縁])  Tokonoma (is a small raised alcove in a washitsu, a Japanese style room with a tatami floor, where decorative scrolls are hung. Ikebana (arranged flowers) are also often displayed there) with a hanging scroll.  Japanese dining set  A full buffet done Kyoto style  To get the look: > Use screens to divide and conceal. There are lots around from the high street to catalogue companies to exclusive oriental shops. Alternatively, make your own from a simple wooden lattice construction. You shouldn't be able to see any nails. In traditional Japanese homes the screens are placed on sliding wooden tracks. Attach and staple gun translucent paper to your wooden frame. Tracing paper will do the trick but might not last that long. Paint the frame black or leave in plain pale wood. Screens can also be made from bamboo and cane. Garden suppliers often have suitable ones. > Flooring - should be tatami mats. These are best described as half seating, half flooring. You can buy them but they are quite pricey. To imitate the look, buy cheap mats, the sort you get at seaside shops. You could have paper flooring as well. Remember to leave your shoes outside. > Colour schemes - muted and neutral but with accent colours of red, black, occasionally yellow (this is more Chinese) and the green of sushi. You could paint a whole room in a vermillion red with a lacquered finish - apply lots and lots of varnish or use a specialist paint and work in a well ventilated room. > All furniture - low-level and kept to a bare minimum. Go for a futon in the bedroom, or just a mattress on the floor. For tables, put low school-type benches either side of the table. Black ash furniture is just right. There is still a lot around thrown out from the 1980s. Also look for lacquered furniture. Real pieces will have beautiful intricate inlays of mother of pearl and gold and silver. Paint your own with a high-varnish spray paint. > Lighting - very important in the Japanese home. Light is diffused through paper to give a warm glow. Place lights behind your screens to achieve this. You can't go wrong with a simple white paper lampshade. Chinese lanterns are more heavily patterned than Japanese with tassels and calligraphy but you could mix the two looks. > Traditional Japanese baths are high-sided wooden boxes made from teak, marine ply or cedar wood. If you want one, check whether your floor would need reinforcing. Fake the look with a wooden surround. > Japanese table settings are very organised. Use bowls rather than plates, with a long runner down the centre of the table. Craquelure ceramics are very Japanese in long slender shapes in greens and black. > Hang a kimono on the wall as a piece of art. Traditional Japanese ones have a deep blue indigo dye or black and white. > Display one single spray of orchids, miniature bonsai, pebbles, twigs, and tortured willow. Use fine grey gravel round the top of pots and plants and look for bamboo accessories. There's no such thing as happy endings, for when you find true love, happiness is everlasting.
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03-31-2007, 06:17 AM
two minutes ago you were posting on a different thread and now you've got a 10000 word essay on japanese architecture???
 I've only seen one other person type this fast and that was an anime character in ghost in the shell ...Jokes apart, that's some phenomenal information! I share the same dream of setting up japanese style interiors for when I buy a house  . I have a nice collection of different room styles all of which in fact are modern with a lot of neo-material chairs and sofas. Unfortunately, I don't have them with me on my comp now. I'll certainly get to them soon and post them up here though  Nice going Nard!  Omae mo kanjite no ka... kaze no koe?
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03-31-2007, 06:19 AM
I just died of an information overload. Which is ok, I like all the info I can get. Yeah, I am so having my house ALL Japanese when I get my own. I think one of my favorite things are the screen doors.
P.S. Aoshi, Cooly is the fastest at EVERYTHING. (cleaning eating showering...lol)
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03-31-2007, 08:31 AM
Wow, a bed! I am fairly certain that the majority of Japanese still sleep on the floor. I should post pictures of my Leopalace.
A few notes, you have to put the futons in the closet because 1) we need the space 2) mold will grow on your futon if you don't move it. In your kitchen set, don't forget the all important rice cooker. The toilets are quite nice since they double as a sink when you flush it. Now when you get the one with the automatic seat lid that lifts and heats when you open the door, you are living the high life. And last but not least are the heated tables. It is basically like a coffee table with a blanket under the table top and a heater in the center. Turn that sucker on and you and your guests can tuck their legs in there and be nice and cozy.
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03-31-2007, 08:39 AM
Well, the site was about Japanese-themed furniture or things like that XD
Wow, never heard of such a toilet seat I couldn't find a decent image of a typical modern-day Japanese washroom anywhere  Ahh... the heated tables, yeah, I've seem them somewhere before. I can't seem to recall the Japanese term for it.. hmm... P.S. Thanks for the useful info as always, jason-san ^_^ It'd be an honour for this thread if you could really post up some of your own pictures There's no such thing as happy endings, for when you find true love, happiness is everlasting.
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03-31-2007, 09:15 AM
Quote:
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03-31-2007, 10:49 AM
Lol, nice toilet XD
Ok, some vid that I found... Not sure if it's a spoof or not.. But Im gonna post it up anyway. If anyone has a better vid with more illustrations prior to the above examples/images, please do post as well An apartment in Tokyo, I think... There's no such thing as happy endings, for when you find true love, happiness is everlasting.
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03-31-2007, 04:50 PM
Wow, I'm so amazed - it must have taken you ages to find all this info! I especially like the youtube vid. Keep up the good work!
~annelie
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