Washi/Lime Wall Lamp is a minimal sconce created by Japan-based designer Yasuaki Yoshimoto. There is something almost celestial about the way light diffuses through the delicate membrane of these wall-mounted sconces. At first glance, they appear as lunar apparitions against the textured wall – not merely providing illumination but transforming it into a presence, a character within the space.

These sconces represent a masterful communion between traditional Japanese craft and contemporary lighting design. The washi paper – that quintessentially Japanese material with its centuries-old legacy – here becomes a vessel for light, capturing and transforming it with subtle elegance. In the first view, we see the sconce in its frontal aspect, presenting as a perfect circle, while the second reveals its dimensional quality, the way it projects from the wall with a gentle curve.

The designer has achieved something remarkable in the apparent simplicity of these fixtures. As Japanese designer Oki Sato once observed, “The simplest things are often the most difficult to realize.” Indeed, what appears effortless here is the result of careful material selection and formal restraint. The thin edge binding the washi, barely perceptible, provides structure while maintaining visual lightness.

These sconces evoke the Japanese paper lantern tradition while subtly reinterpreting it for contemporary spaces. The warm glow emanating from within creates a gradient effect on the paper surface – brighter at the center, softening toward the edges – mimicking natural light phenomena. This quality connects to the Japanese aesthetic principle of utsuroi, the appreciation of transitional states and subtle changes.