Tokonoma床の間alternative words: Japanese alcove, alcove keywords: architecture , art related topics: Muromachi period , Kakemono , Ikebana , Kagami mochi explanation: During Muromachi period, in upper class houses, there existed place to hang a Buddhist picture scroll and to set a low table for incense or a flower base. This place had evolved to an alcove with a little elevated soil to replace the table. This place has lost the initial religious character but still remains, in traditional Japanese houses, as an ideal place to admire a changing season by hanging a picture scroll (Kekemono) and putting a flower base (Ikebana) before it. | |