Byōbu

'wind wall') are Japanese folding screens made from several joined panels, bearing decorative painting and calligraphy, used to separate interiors and enclose private spaces, among other uses.

Two-panel byōbu were common, and overlapped paper hinges substituted for zenigata, which made them lighter to carry, easier to fold, and stronger at the joints.

This technique allowed the depictions in the byōbu to be uninterrupted by panel vertical borders, which prompted artists to paint sumptuous, often monochromatic, nature-themed scenes and landscapes of famous Japanese locales.

After the paintings and brocade were attached, a lacquered wood frame (typically black or dark red) was applied to protect the outer perimeter of the byōbu, and intricately decorated metal hardware (strips, right angles, and studs) were applied to the frame to protect the lacquer.

This led to radical changes in byōbu crafting, such as backgrounds made from gold leaf (金箔, kinpaku) and highly colorful paintings depicting nature and scenes from daily life, a style pioneered by the Kanō school.

The French painter Odilon Redon created a series of panels for the Château de Domecy-sur-le-Vault in Burgundy, which were influenced by the art of byōbu.

Many contemporary artists continue to allude to the byōbu format, aligning multiple panels in a row, creating ultra-wide paintings.

In the age of international art commerce, this is done more for ease of handling and transport, since ultimately, these works are displayed flat on a wall.

1990) produced an exceptional two-screen byōbu (each screen with six panels) for his Master's project at Tama Art University entitled Transfiguration of Currents (流転ノ行方).

Abandoning the traditional byōbu format, Sato used individual panels, which more closely resemble fusuma (sliding screens used as interior partitions).

1984) paint large works using mineral pigments on Japanese paper which are then mounted on four or six individual panels, not more than 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) wide.

1962), who studied with Matazo Kayama Tokyo University of the Arts from 1989–1992, paints hanging scrolls, fans and folding screens: I have found the byōbu format, with its three-dimensional surface, to be ideal for creating the kind of depth I had been aiming for.