Space-saving savvy puts Japanese-inspired furniture high on the list of city dwellers and dorm room denizens alike. If you love your sleek, streamlined platform bed and couldn't live without your stowaway futon, you owe your admiration to the ingenuity of a culture that traditionally shuns large, overwrought furniture. Other recognizable items that hail from Japan include the stacked Tansu chests and Nagamochi trunks. Like Chinese furnishings, furniture influenced by Japanese design is defined by its joinery, with master artisans taking years to learn the construction of these complex, durable joints. Great pride is taken in the general lack of nails or glue that holds the structure together, and in the joint's shock absorbing properties.
Much contemporary furniture owes its inspiration to ancient Oriental designs. The beauty of a piece was found in its usefulness and construction. Simplicity of design was valued more than ostentatious and gaudy overindulgence. The same can be said for today's modern furniture, especially bedroom furniture, where sleek and simple equals stylish and sophisticated.
By: James Allen