Villa incorporates many traditional Japanese ideas. One example of Katsura's use of traditional ideas is its use of raised floors with tatami mats covering them. Tatami are mats approximately 3 feet by 6 feet in length that are not only used as the floors of the villa, but are also used to define the dimensions of each individual room and the house as a whole. Sir Banister Fletcher, A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method for the Student, Craftsman, and Amateur (London: B.T. Batsford, 1994) 634-651 "Tatami," JAANUS, accessed March 30, 2012.Fazio, Buildings across Time, 101. At Katsura, the mats are used to create the sprawling and pinwheel-like plan that it has today. The terraces and porches created by the arrangement of the tatami mats provide opportunities to view the landscape and link interior spaces with the outside world. The floors of each building of the site are also raised as well, which originally was derived from vernacular designs for granaries, as well as early imperial palaces. They serve the purpose of both keeping the floor dry while also giving hierarchy to the space. Another classic characteristic that the Katsura Imperial Villa utilizes is the use of screen walls (the shōji and the fusuma). In traditional Japanese Architecture, the shoji and the fusuma are used to separate the spaces created by the tatami mat into the various rooms of the house. The shoji is the generic term for the white and translucent screen door or wall that is reinforced with wooden lattice and can either be stationary, hanging, or sliding. "Shouji" JAANUS accessed March 30, 2012Kazuo Nishi and Kazuo Hozumi, What is Japanese Architecture, (New York: Kodansha USA, 1996) 74 The fusuma is a subcategory of the shoji and it is the white or painted moving screen partition used on the interior of the house. "Fusuma" JAANUS accessed March 30, 2012Nishi What is Japanese Architecture, 74 By moving the fusuma, when in conjunction with a stationary shoji, the resident is able to create new rooms within the architecture. For instance by moving one fusuma wall, one could transform two rooms into one large room and a small storage closet. In the Katsura Imperial Villa, the fusuma allows the rooms to change and open up to the natural world with exterior decks becoming extensions of the interior and framing views of the landscape. An example of this type of transformation is the moon viewing platform connected to the Old Shoin.Fazio, Buildings across Time, 99. Besides these characteristics, there are many traditional Japanese ideas that are used in the Katsura Imperial Villa, like the decorative alcove (tokonoma), built-in desk (tsukeshoin) and square posts.
