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is a term used in Japan
Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
 to refer to the 'top seat' within a room. The opposite term referring to the 'bottom seat' within a room is Shimoza. The Kamiza is the seat or position that is most comfortable, usually furthest from the door (because this is warmest). In a traditional Washitsu
Washitsu

A , or Japanese-style room, is a traditional Japanese-style room with tatami flooring, and possibly shoji and a tokonoma. It usually has fusuma, sliding, rather than hinged, doors....
 room it would often be a Zabuton
Zabuton

A zabuton is a Japanese cushion for sitting. The kanji characters ??? literally translated are "seat-cloth-sphere". The zabuton is the everyday cushion found in homes and used for eating, watching television, reading at the kotatsu, and other daily activities....
 placed so the person sitting there has their back to the Tokonoma
Tokonoma

A tokonoma is a small raised alcove in a washitsu, a Japanese style room with a tatami floor, where decorative Hanging scroll are hung. Ikebana and/or bonsai or okimono are also often displayed there....
. In a modern, Western-style room it would often be a comfortable armchair or sofa.

When entering a room in Japan on a formal occasion it is of great importance to assume the correct seating position, and to leave the Kamiza free for the most important person present, be that a special guest or the person of highest rank.






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is a term used in Japan
Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
 to refer to the 'top seat' within a room. The opposite term referring to the 'bottom seat' within a room is Shimoza. The Kamiza is the seat or position that is most comfortable, usually furthest from the door (because this is warmest). In a traditional Washitsu
Washitsu

A , or Japanese-style room, is a traditional Japanese-style room with tatami flooring, and possibly shoji and a tokonoma. It usually has fusuma, sliding, rather than hinged, doors....
 room it would often be a Zabuton
Zabuton

A zabuton is a Japanese cushion for sitting. The kanji characters ??? literally translated are "seat-cloth-sphere". The zabuton is the everyday cushion found in homes and used for eating, watching television, reading at the kotatsu, and other daily activities....
 placed so the person sitting there has their back to the Tokonoma
Tokonoma

A tokonoma is a small raised alcove in a washitsu, a Japanese style room with a tatami floor, where decorative Hanging scroll are hung. Ikebana and/or bonsai or okimono are also often displayed there....
. In a modern, Western-style room it would often be a comfortable armchair or sofa.

When entering a room in Japan on a formal occasion it is of great importance to assume the correct seating position, and to leave the Kamiza free for the most important person present, be that a special guest or the person of highest rank. However, if one humbly sits in the Shimoza position and is then encouraged by the host to move to the Kamiza, it is quite acceptable to do so.

The term Kamiza is frequently confused by martial arts practitioners with Kamidana
Kamidana

Kamidana , literally meaning "kami shelf", is a type of miniature Jinja placed or hung high on a wall in some Japanese homes. The kamidana contains a wide variety of items related to the Shinto style ceremony....
, a Shinto
Shinto

is the former state religion of Japan and remains the most common name for the nation's non-Buddhist ethnic religion practices. It was formed from disparate local mythologies, beginning with the Kojiki of 712, into an imperial cult called State Shinto that solidified in the Meiji period....
 shrine often found in Dojo
Dojo

A is a Japanese language term which literally means "place of the Tao". Initially, dojo were adjunct to temples. The term can refer to a formal training place for any of the Japanese do arts but typically it is considered the formal gathering place for students of any Japanese martial arts style to conduct training, examinations and other rela...
 (martial arts training halls).