Japanese Art - Byobu Screens

These beautiful Japanese folding screens, or byobu, are beautiful examples of Japanese art.

Byobu are used as a backdrop for flower vases or pottery and are essential accoutrements accompanying the tea ceremony and ikebana (flower arranging). Byobu screens add elegance to any room in your home.

Byobu are works of Japanese art at affordable prices. Our hand painted byobu are made in Kyoto from quality washi (Japanese parchment), fine wood, and gold leaf.

These byobu make ideal gifts for you, those at home and friends. Add a touch of Japanese art to your home.

Profile of the Artist

Tomokazu Kurashima was born and raised in Kyoto. After graduation from Ritsumeikan University, Kurashima-san joined a fashion company where he worked for two years. At that point he joined his uncle’s screen and byobu (Japanese screens) business. He stayed, perfecting his skills and developing a style of his own, eventually gaining no less than twenty-five years of experience at his craft.

Six years ago Kurashima-san began his own company, Kuraya. Using washibyobu (Japanese parchment especially made for use in byobu folding screens) he continues to freely create these miniature screens in his Kyoto studio with scenes from Genji Monogatari, the world's first novel; scenes that evoke the changing seasons; and scenes inspired some of the best-known screens in Japanese pictorial history.

Using only a brush and Chinese ink on Japanese paper, Kurashima paints each screen individually with the creativity and conscientious finesse of over three decades of devotion to his art. Simple yet profound, a byobu screen will add that ineffable touch of Japanese art to any home or workplace. A perfect gift.

Note: Byobu should not be put in direct sunlight. Also, with age there may be some warping.