About Shades of Japan

Shades of Japan was established in 2000 and is now the UK’s leading manufacturer of traditional hand crafted Japanese shoji screens.

I was born in India from Anglo-Indian origin; where I grew up and worked for the Indian Railway as an apprentice in mechanical engineering. My family immigrated to England in 1977. Following a successful career in Insurance, I moved to Tokyo to work for an offshore investment company. My fascination with Japanese culture grew and I realised that I wanted a complete career change. To fulfil this dream I taught English in the evenings and during the day I studied the art of making screens. On my return home I began to design my range of lights and founded Shades of Japan.
Each of my own designs comes with a seal of authenticity and this red stamp is known as a Hanko. The Japanese use the hanko in the same way as Westerner’s use their signature. Shades of Japan’s hanko means ‘Journey’.

In 2006 Shades of Japan diversified and is now proud to bring to you a complete Interior Design service through our Japanese Interior Designer Ikunori Ara.
 
Glenn Joachim
 
"The only boundaries to your potential are the ones you set yourself " Adrian Joachim