The Japanese people, until rice cropping came from China, were not involved in agriculture nor in
cultivated fields, but rather gathered food from the forests as blessings of mountains and used tools
made by cutting wood. In this country, more than 70% of the land is dominated by forests, and so the
Japanese people for a long time lived in houses made of wood, which is a blessing of nature. Such
wooden houses were characterized by pillars made of timber and roofs of straw or tree bark set on
eaves stretched from the beams. Additionally, rooms entered from the earth floor were separated
by sliding doors but were actually one room if the doors were removed as one large space. The
partitions to create small rooms from the big single space were shoji screens. Shoji, manufactured
by joiners, are joinery where muntins are arranged in vertical and horizontal directions and covered
with Japanese paper, and they were used as a room wall and sometimes as a partition. Natural
light coming through Japanese paper softly brightens the room, and on warm days, you can take
in air from outside by leaving the shoji open. Because Japanese people have been governed by the
natural blessings of nature, we have shown respect for nature since ancient times.
The regular balance of shoji’s muntins and the scenery made in harmony with light represent the
serene beauty unique to Japan. We tried to reflect such beauty in a modern shelf. When placing
this shelf vertically, you will see the appearance and shades of the vertical lattice like those of shoji.
The shelf was named after the light falling and swinging through the lattice (Komorebi refers to
light streaming through trees.) And by placing it horizontally, the beautiful light falling from behind
objects placed in the lattice, as well as the form of the traditional Japanese lifestyle, are expressed
in a simple way by this shelf. By rounding the edges of the shelf boards’ front sides, the hard-looking
grid begins to look soft. As a partition shelf or a bookshelf, you can beautifully display possessions
where the silhouettes along with light that come through the lattice create a serene rhythm and
shades of light.