tsuitate shōji 衝立障子

A partitioning screen. Sometimes an opaque panel screen *fusuma 襖 or sometimes a wooden screen set in a stand. It was placed wherever it was needed. It was often used in traditional style mansions between the entrance *genkan 玄関 and the front hall, or to partition a section of a room. During the Heian period, it was used in the palaces and mansions of the nobility as a windbreak or to control sunlight. They were usually painted with popular seasonal images.