Shoin-zukuri

is a style of Japanese architecture developed in the Muromachi, Azuchi–Momoyama and Edo periods that forms the basis of today's traditional-style Japanese houses. Characteristics of the development were the incorporation of square posts and floors, i.e. those completely covered with tatami. The style takes its name from the , a term that originally meant a study and a place for lectures on sutras in a temple, but which later came to mean just a drawing room or study.