fusuma　襖

KEY WORD :　architecture / general terms

An abbreviation for fusumashouji 襖障子, an opaque sliding screen, as distinguished from the translucent screen *akarishouji 明障子. Fusuma first appeared in the Muromachi period, used to close off large spaces into smaller rooms and as cupboard or closet doors. In the Nara and Heian periods folding and single leaf partitions were common. Their structure was similar to fusuma but sliding partitions did not develop until the very end of Heian or the beginning of the Kamakura periods. They were a necessary appurtenance in residential architecture, first in the shoin style *shoin-zukuri 書院造, mansions of the elite and eventually in the houses of farmers and merchants. They were often very elaborate and made of frames covered with thick paper. High quality screens were called nanakaeshibari 七返貼, or gokaeshibari 五返貼, and were made of silk or other kinds of cloth. When the frame was visible, it was lacquered. Many fusuma served as a surface for ink or brilliantly colored paintings by famous artists. The pulls *hikite 引手, were not always circular but often unique in shape. Elegant tassels *fusa 総, were attached to the pulls and called *fusahikite 総引手. Vestiges of this taste can be seen on the *choudaigamae 帳台構え, highly decorative sliding doors to the right of the dais *joudan 上段, in Nijoujou Kuroshoin Ichi-no-ma 二条城黒書院 一の間. The skeleton fusumabone 襖骨 (fusuma bones) of the sliding screen fusumashitaji 襖下地 consist of a frame filled with muntins that run vertically *kumite 組手 and horizontally, hirabone 平骨. A board, hiuchi-ita 火打板 or chikara-ita 力板, is placed in each corner of the rectangle to strengthen the frame. Another board *hikite 引手 is placed in such a way that the upper edge of this board joins the central horizontal muntin, which allows the screen pull to be placed on top. Generally, both the vertical and horizontal muntins that are exactly centered and are heavier strips than all the others. They are called chikarabone 力骨 or chikarako 力子. All these skeletal parts are enclosed in a frame. After the covering is applied to the back and front and secured to all edges of the frame, a finishing frame of lacquered or precious wood is attached. After the pull is set in, the upper and lower parts of the finished frame may be cut so that they fit into the top and bottom tracks. The top of the frame is called uwabuchi 上縁, the bottom one shitabuchi 下縁 and the vertical sides of the frame are called mashibuchi 増縁. With these frames they are secured but can be lifted out.

a) *kumite 組手　b) hiuchi-ita 火打板　c) hirabone 平骨　 d) uwabuchi 上縁 e) *tatebuchi 竪縁　f) *hikite 引手　g) hikite-ita 引手板　 h) shitabuchi 下縁

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