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JPNAsia

Japan

Ma (間) — Negative Space

Hinomaru Red#BC002D
DESIGN TRADITION

Ma (間) — Negative Space

Emptiness is not absence; it is the interval that gives meaning to form.

LANDMARK ARCHITECTURE

Katsura Imperial Villa

Unknown (Imperial Commission)1615–1663

The supreme example of Japanese spatial design — modular tatami proportions, shoji translucency, and engineered negative space that influenced every modernist who encountered it.

ICONIC ARTWORK

The Great Wave off Kanagawa

Katsushika Hokusaic. 1831Woodblock print (nishiki-e)
SIGNATURE MATERIAL

Hinoki cypress & washi paper

CITE THIS ENTRY

Japan: Design Provenance.” The Chromologium — Design Atlas, 2026. chromologium.com/atlas/japan