tokonoma
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of tokonoma
1895–1900; < Japanese, equivalent to toko (raised) floor + -no grammatical particle + ma room
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Set in a garden among plum and kiwi trees, the cottage has traditional tatami mats, shoji-paper and fusuma sliding doors, chunky wooden cabinets and tokonoma alcoves.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 18, 2023
Behind some bronzes of the Japanese Hercules destroying the demons and other mythical heroes was a large alcove, or tokonoma, decorated with peacock, stork, and crane panels.
From The War Terror by Arthur B. (Arthur Benjamin) Reeve
It may, in extreme cases, be much less; for a certain kind of Japanese garden can be contrived small enough to put in a tokonoma.
From Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan Second Series by Lafcadio Hearn
Cats are mischievous: they tear the mattings, and make holes in the shoji, and sharpen their claws upon the pillars of tokonoma.
From Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan Second Series by Lafcadio Hearn
The Emperor, of course, never comes, and so the tokonoma is no more than a name.
From Peeps at Many Lands: Japan by John Finnemore
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