What is "kamiza"

is the Japanese language term referring to the "top seat" within a room, meaning the place of honor; the term also applies to the best seats in air-planes, trains, and cars. The antonym, meaning "bottom seat," is shimoza (下座). In a room, the kamiza is the seat or position that is most comfortable, usually furthest from the door -- because this is warmest, and was safest from attack back in the feudal period. In a traditional washitsu room it would often be a zabuton placed so the person sitting there has his back to the tokonoma; the kamiza is the spot closest to the tokonoma or simply farthest from the door in a room lacking a tokonoma. In a Western-style room it would be a comfortable armchair or sofa, or the head of a table. The term is general, and does not only apply to Japanese culture.