1. USE OF NATURAL MATERIALS
Wood is a staple of Japanese interiors, and a living room with a Japanese aesthetic will always have some sort of wooden structure, interior, cladding or wooden decor to create a natural living room feel.
2. CURATED DECOR
Conscious and curated living room decor is a key fundamental of a Japanese living room, but keep it simple and minimal. 'I like to incorporate Japanese craftsmanship as interior accessories,' says Kiyomi. 'Japanese earthenware, cutting boards with beautiful wood grain, and other accessories made by Japanese craftsmen using natural materials and traditional techniques will further enhance the Japan feel of the interior.'
3. LOW-PROFILE FURNITURE
Modern furniture for living rooms is typically low-profile in the archetypal Japanese home. This is a look that has transferred over to the Scandi aesthetic too. It mirrors traditional Japanese living rooms, where people would typically sit on the floor, as Keiji Ashizawa, architect and product designer of Keiji Ashizawa Design explains. 'Contemporary rooms are very international in style,' says Keiji. 'In my opinion, furniture became popular in Japanese households in the 1970s. Until then, it was chests of drawers, chabutai (tea table), mizuya (water closet), and geta-bako (shoe box),' says Keiji.
4. FLEXIBLE OPEN PLAN SPACE
'Traditional Japanese-style rooms do not divide the room with walls, but with fusuma (sliding doors) and shoji (paper sliding doors), creating an open and highly variable space,' points out Keiji.
5. A NEUTRAL COLOR SCHEME
Japanese interiors are known for their pared-back and simple minimalist color palette. Think layers of neutrals and beiges, punctuated with black accents. The traditional Japanese interior was void of color apart from natural wood paneling, and this is reflected in the color scheme of a modern living room in Japan.