Besides the sudare blinds, there is another Japanese specific method to protect the entrance from dust, rain and sun, the noren. Noren 「暖簾」 are rectangular pieces of fabric with vertical slits, hung at the entrance, over the windows or inside, between rooms. As you can see in today’s photo, there are two types of noren, sometimes used together, the short one inscribed with the name of the shop, while the long version, called naga noren, is covering the entrance, protecting the interior.

Interestingly, because these curtains were, and still are, used extensively to display the shop’s name or symbol, in modern times the word noren 「のれん」 became a term used to designate a company’s goodwill accounting.

Osaka Museum of Housing and Living, Osaka

EXIF Info:

Yesterday’s Japan Photo: Masterpieces of Japanese architecture, Kyoto International Conference Center