Tokonama

I am just fascinated with this piece of furniture. But I feel like it is just begging to have stuff put in it... like cushions or bonsai plants maybe? What is its purpose in Japanes culture? I just love the minimalist look to it.

it should have a plant traditionally, i believe, and it's purpose is just for placing items for artistic appreciation in the home. it's just an alcove.

I'm so glad I'm not the only one. It drives me crazy I can't put bonsai on it.

It's nice looking, but sadly can't have something placed on/in it. Tried to get it from one of my villagers for so long, but eventually gave up and ordered it from Joan's RV.

Looks like it could be used as some kind of partition or similar to how you place large bookshelves in a zen/asian-themed room.

master.leor, I took your advice and ended up using it to make a sort of alleyway into the next room. It sure is massive.

They're often put in tea ceremony rooms (chash.itsu), and they have a seasonal ikebana arrangement and hanging scrolls inside. They are not limited to just chash.itsu- they are seen in traditional Japanese rooms, ie.zashiki. The most important guest must be seated facing away from it. I do wish we could put things in there, I'd totally put my ikebana in there. Bonsai can be in there too, but traditionally they were considered too dirty for tokonoma.

Thank you so much for that information Rainbow Panda! That is so interesting about the most important guest facing away from the tokonama. Do you know why that is? Japanese style homes are so peaceful and soothing to me. I love all the clean empty space.

Hmm... how do I explain this (I'm bad at explaining things lol) >w<
It's because if the most important guest faces the Tokonoma, it's like the host is trying to show off its contents to them by making them look at it the whole time. Tokonoma have very strict etiquette surrounding them.
That is true! They are very soothing. Chash.itsu (tea rooms) are especially lovely. They have pretty gardens surrounding them. However, they also have very small entrances- which forces the guests to bow when entering.
Seasonality is very very important in Japan- which is why tokonoma have seasonal ikebana arrangements. Namagashi (a type of traditional sweet) also match the seasons- they are almost too pretty to eat (just google it and see what I mean) ;w;
There are actually 72 mini seasons in Japan (see here) They aren't really observed today, but sometimes in kimono motifs (which also must match the season)they are. I have a trailing furisode kimono which I use for dance and it has motifs of butterflies, wisteria and cherry blossoms- perfect for Spring.

Eeeeek I started rambling again, whoops >o< But I hope you found this interesting! I like sharing my knowledge c:

I LOVE hearing all that interesting info! Namagashi surely are beautiful! My son lives in New York City and his Christmas gift to the rest of the family one year was beautiful Japanese sweets that looked very much like namagashi. And thank you for explaining about the Tokonama. Japanese culture is so poetic. Where I live In Tennessee, the locals say we have 5 winters which actually occur each spring. Redbud Winter (early April) - Dogwood Winter (late April) - Locust Winter (early May) - Blackberry Winter (mid May) - and last but not least... Britches Winter (late May). I think this happens here because we live in the mountains. I am not originally from Tennessee but the folklore here fascinates me.