Spending a peaceful winter time with a Yukimi Shoji

On a winter morning, you suddenly look out the window and see a thin layer of snow in the garden. As you gaze at this view, sip a cup of steaming tea. As time passes quietly, you will feel your mind naturally calm down.

The Yukimi Shoji in a tea room makes such winter moments even more enjoyable.

The Yukimi Shoji and the aesthetic sense of a tea room

A Yukimi Shoji is a type of fitting with a glass bottom. When you sit down, the garden view is reflected at eye level, and you can enjoy the soft light through the shoji as if you were taking in the scenery at your feet.

In the world of tea ceremony, it is important to drink tea while feeling the nature of the four seasons with your five senses. In a winter tea room, the view seen through the Yukimi Shoji screen becomes part of the tea ceremony's furnishings, reflecting the quiet change of the seasons.

This time, we will introduce some ideas for enjoying winter scenery in your daily life, inspired by the aesthetic sense of Yukimi Shoji screens.

Lowering your gaze changes the winter scenery

In a tea room, you can see a different view than usual by spending time close to the floor. For example, camellia flowers blooming softly in a winter garden, bird footprints left on the snow, white cotton hats piled up on the branches - at random moments, you may see such quiet winter scenery.

If you want to incorporate this perspective into your modern life,

• Try spending tea time at a low table

• Use a zaisu chair or cushion to relax with your gaze close to the floor

Just by making such efforts, you may be able to encounter a new view.

Create a "small Yukimi Shoji screen" by the window

It is also recommended to create a window arrangement that cuts out the outside scenery, like a Yukimi Shoji screen.

For example,

• Decorate the window with small potted plants or flowers

• Use washi paper to let in soft light

• Place your favorite chair by the window and take the time to enjoy the view

By doing this, your ordinary window will be transformed into a small "yukimi shoji" (snow-viewing screen).

Enjoy the winter scenery with tea

In the tea ceremony, it is important to enjoy the changing of the seasons with your guests. The winter scenery seen through the yukimi shoji screen is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. There is something irreplaceable about having a cup of tea while feeling the way the snow falls, the amount of light, and the clarity of the air.

Even in the midst of busy days, if you stop what you are doing and take a cup of tea while looking out the window - by consciously creating such time, you may feel that the winter scenery is closer to you.

Why not turn your gaze to your existing window and create a small "yukimi shoji" world?