hondoko 本床

A formal alcove *tokonoma 床の間 in a large *shoin 書院 style room. It may be positioned to one side of a plain wall with staggered shelves *chigaidana 違い棚, and a built-in, short cupboard with sliding doors arranged beside it, or it may be placed directly in the center of such a wall. In either case, the alcove pillar *tokobashira 床柱 is square with chamfered corners. The floor is made of thick straw mats *tatami 畳, and the wall is papered. A simpler hondoko may have plain brown clay walls. Both the framing boards and the alcove pillar are often coated with black lacquer, creating what is called the shin 真, or true formal style. Some hondoko have lacquer frames with a polished cedar log used for the alcove post. Still others may have a frame with corners cut by an adze *chōna 釿, and/or a post(s), or even a log frame with bamboo shoots chamfered on the bottom parts takenokomentori 筍面取. This style referred to as semi-formal, gyō 行. The floor is raised, framed, and covered with tatami.