WARA
- The artisan behind WARA is Eri Sakaguchi (based in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan), who advocates the traditional wabi-sabi philosophy of “Yohaku” – means the beauty of an empty space.
- “WARA” in Japanese means hemp, which is the key material used in making the rope that ties on “Sekimori Stone” (関守石: border stone). “Sekimori Stone” is generally placed on a stepping stone path in a Japanese tea garden to warn the guests against taking the wrong path since ancient time. It’s a fist-sized stone, tied over crosswise with dyed hemp-palm rope or straws.
- By placing a “Sekimori Stone” in an empty space, it’s a perfect method to enjoy and apply the zen philosophy of “Yohaku”. It also makes a feasible space to meditate, calm oneself down, and just to enjoy that slow and quiet moment.
- Nowadays, people also use “Sekimori Stone” as an interior object for decoration, e.g. placing it at the entrance, on a shelf/the centre of a coffee table, above the fireplace, or just simply putting on a work desk. It serves as an object to purify and unwind the tension of a space.
- Below is a little more about the originating source of using a “Sekimori Stone” in Japan: The garden of a Teahouse is called a ro-ji (露地), dew-ground, which has a path leading from the outside world to the Teahouse. A roji should have no flowering plants, but rather, evergreen trees and plants such as ferns, moss, bamboo, etc. Sen no Rikyū believed that the ideal roji has only moss, koke (苔), covering the ground, but as people might get their feet wet, it has a pathway made of steppingstones, tobi-ishi (飛石), fly-stone. The roji may have paths branching off the main route, and to mark where the guest should not walk, a stone is placed a little way in, indicating that the way is blocked. The stone is called a seki-mori-ishi (関守石), the barrier stone. The stone, about the size of a human heart, is tied with rope, warabi-nawa (蕨縄), fernbrake-rope. There are various ways to tie the rope, but it should have enough rope to form a kind of handle.
