tokonoma

In a Japanese room, an alcove with a low platform, used for the display of a flower arrangement and hanging scroll or other art objects. A feature of the shoin-zukuri style, the tokonoma is the focal point and spiritual centre of the interior of almost every traditional Japanese house. It finds its origins in the private altar space of the Zen Buddhist monk, which contained a hanging Buddhist scroll and a narrow wooden table with an incense burner and votive candles.

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