Byōbu

and highly colorful paintings depicting nature and daily life sceneries.
*Current day: Byōbu are often machine-made and shoddy. However hand-crafted byōbu are still available, mainly produced by families that preserve the crafting traditions.

Types

Byōbu may be classified by the number of panels:
*"Tsuitate" ( _ja. 衝立): one-panel screens, the only "legged byōbu", were the first available format. Currently found in shops, restaurants and other venues.
*"Nikyoku byōbu" ( _ja. 二曲屏風) or "Nimaiori byōbu" ( _ja. 二枚折屏風): Two-panel screens, made their first appearance in the mid-Muromachi period. They are a key feature in Japanese tea ceremony rooms, used at the edge of the host's mat to separate him from the guest's area, and are often about 60cm high and 85cm wide. "Nikyoku byōbu" are also called "furosaki byōbu"( _ja. 風炉先屏風) in the context of tea ceremonies.
*"Yonkyoku byōbu" ( _ja. 四曲屏風): Four-panel screens, displayed in hallways during the Kamakura and Muromachi periods. They were later used in Seppuku ceremonies and tea house waiting rooms in the late Edo Period.
*"Rokkyoku byōbu" ( _ja. 六曲屏風): or "rokumaiori byōbu" _ja. 六枚折屏風, Six-panel screens, the most popular format, measuring approximately 1.5m high and 3.7m wide.
*"Jūkyoku byōbu" ( _ja. 十曲屏風): Ten-panel screens, a relatively recent format, used as backdrops in large settings such as hotel lobbies and convention halls.

Byōbu may also be classified by their uses or themes:
*"Ga no byōbu" ( _ja. 賀の屏風; literally "longevity screens"): purported to be used since the Heian Period to celebrate longevity through waka poems written on them, embellished with paintings of birds and flowers in the four seasons.
*"Shiro-e byōbu" ( _ja. 白絵屏風, also pronounced "shirae byōbu") are screens painted in ink or mica on white silk surfaces, widely used in the Edo period in wedding ceremonies and more specifically in rooms were babies were born, thus they were also called "ubuya byōbu" ( _ja. 産所屏風; literally "birthplace screen"). They depicted cranes and tortoises with pine and bamboo, as well as the auspicious phoenix.
*"Makura byōbu" ( _ja. 枕屏風; literally "pillow screen"): 50cm high screens, usually two or four panels, used in bedrooms as a rack for clothes and other accessories, and also to preserve privacy.
*"Koshi byōbu" ( _ja. 腰屏風) are slightly taller than makura byōbu and were used during the Sengoku period, placed behind the host to reassure guests that no one is hiding behind the screen.

External links

* [http://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/b/byoubu.htm Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System Byoubu entry]