Shoji – Sliding Paper Doors in Japan

Perhaps you have seen in a movie or anime , even on your visit to Japan in a temple , these sliding doors which in Japan are called Shōji. These doors are used to divide spaces between rooms, making a space more intimate with a single movement of the doors. And on the other hand, if you want the room to be more spacious, you can move it, even remove the doors and have more space in your room.

Shōji are a very traditional element in Japanese architecture. Normally it is located in the most traditional room of the house called ” Washitsu ” (和室). Currently, modern houses no longer contain this traditional room ( Washitsu ) although you can find Shōji doors. Glass is sometimes used instead of paper as glass, although paper is under tension, can be a bit more delicate and easy to break carelessly.

They come in different designs:

They are relatively easy to repair at home, although you can also take them to workshops where they are built and ask them to repair the paper. You can change the entire sheet of paper or just the damaged part. The paper used is ” Washi ” (和紙), a traditional paper from Japan that is characterized by being very resistant.

Formerly in Japan, coal was used inside the houses to cook or heat the room and so that the smell or smoke was not trapped, they had these Shōji doors, so the smoke passed through the paper, which must have a specific thickness. so that air can pass through, in this way the room remained slightly ventilated and humidity was not kept inside the room.

These windows do not go directly to the outside but go along a lane apart from the glass window. During the day the room is illuminated and at night it functions as curtains since the paper does not allow the interior to be seen.

As we said, the door goes along a rail and to remove it you must lift the door a little, tilt it in or out and that’s it. They are very light so they are easy to move. The wood used is bamboo.

The paper is attached to the door with a water-based glue, although in the past it was made with rice starch. Either way it is easy to remove the paper from the wood. Some of the papers have designs and they also sell them plain.

In this video we talk a little about these Shōji doors and we show you in detail the material they are made of, the type of paper and even how to change damaged paper!

The Shōji are a nice way to Japanize your space since you can open or close the doors depending on the space you need in your room!