If you’ve ever seen shoji, the sliding wood-framed paper doors that are a common element of traditional Japanese architecture, you’ve probably been overcome by two strong emotions. First, a sense of admiration for the timeless beauty of the elegantly simple aesthetic. Second, a burning desire to know just how hard you can poke that translucent paper before you puncture it.
Poking holes in the shoji paper is a major faux pas, however, and even young kids in Japan know they’re supposed to resist the temptation. It doesn’t look like this kitty got the message, though, as it unleashes its adorably destructive hunting instincts on a defenseless shoji in this video.
While the materials that go into shoji aren’t particularly pricey, the craftsmanship that goes into making the doors means that they can be expensive to repair. As such, you’d ordinarily want to keep your cat and its sharp claws as far away from your shoji as possible if your pet is feeling energetic or aggressive.
Japanese Twitter user @nyanmagemaru, however, had decided to get rid of one of her shoji doors entirely. Having pulled it off its track, the door’s next stop was going to be the trash, but the pet owner decided to take the rare opportunity to turn the shoji into a giant cat toy.
But just how exactly do you do that? Well, first you set the shoji down between yourself and the cat. Next, take a cotton swab and press it lightly against the paper.
The cat does the rest.
The feline demolition job was well-received by Japanese Internet commenters.
“So cute♪”
“Lovely!”
“I could watch this over and over.”
“It’s really enjoying itself-give it another!”
Even if its aim is a little off at times, the cat is clearly determined to help get that shoji ready for the garbage pile. But now that the animal knows the door’s weak spots, we’re hoping that whatever portal @nyanmagemaru replaced it with is made of sturdier stuff.
Source: Hamster Sokuho, Twitter/@nyanmagemaru