There is a trend in modern Japanese houses to have vertical slit type windows, something that simultaneously looks more fancy pants and expensive than it actually is, and yet somehow also kind of cheap.

two long slit type windows of a japanese home looking out onto an unkempt garden

a window, yesterday

I actually like the look of my window. With the weird wooden cross beam, the double shafts of light performing a physics experiment, and the fancy square tatami it's like what a church on a starship might look like. Vaguely spiritual and yet comforting. But this window has to go!

There are a few different arguments for why you might put a window like this in a house, apart from pure aesthetics. First, I've been told decent windows are expensive in Japan, so two smaller windows are better than one big one (I told you they look cheap). The second reason is limiting the amount of heat that one big window would generate. Summers here are harsh and only the hardiests of souls would be brave enough (or foolish enough) to consider living here. And only a madman would consider putting windows on their house. But at least with two slit windows you can be relatively comfortable when you curl up on the tatami like a cat. The third reason, and probably the most likely, is that slit windows allow you to spy on your neighbors easily without being noticed. I do like watching what people are up to and taking detailed notes of their every move. Who knows when this information might come in useful. A bigger window would make it very easy to see in to the house, too, so no more parading around balls flapping about like a desk ornament. So for these reasons I really do like this window. But it's got to go!

But "Why? Why?" you ask (though I suspect it's only out of politeness and not really out of curiosity). Why destroy that which you love? Is it because of the inevitablity of such an outcome? As we careen ever forward towards the heat death of the universe, isn't it better to cast off those things we would become attached to, and become free from the burdens of desire. Well no, not that. I'm going to turn that window into a door. A door that will lead to my new mix room / studio. And as I do I will document the progress here. So the window has to go, but only because I have plans for something better. After all a window is just a way to get some light. But a room can have infinite possibilities.