Sleeping on the ground with the Futon

The futon is something everyone knows about, but yet don’t know about. I’ll try to fill you in some of the details here. First, why? Well, space is at a premium in Japan. Something like 85% of the country is mountains and uninhabitable, so that doesn’t leave much for living room. As a result, houses and apartments are typically much smaller than they are in the West. Because of this, the Japanese have devised all sorts of ways to save space. One of them is the traditional Japanese bed – the futon.

As you can see in the photo, it really doesn’t bare much resemblance to the American version. I imagine the one we in the States came from an ex-army guy who was here during the war and saw the Japanese beds and decided to borrow the idea, but then took it in a somewhat… cheaper direction.

So… what is a futon?

It’s basically a bed that you put on the floor when it’s time to sleep, then pack up and stick in the closet during the day so you can reclaim that space for other use during the day.

Simple, eh?

It typically consists of a padding to lay down first, a mattress, a thick and extremely warm blanket, and a pillow filled with a special kind of beans that conforms to the shape of your head and keeps it warm at night.

There are other add-ons you you can buy too, including in the winter a large water bag for keeping your feet and legs warm (fill it with hot water before going to bed), a fleece blanket to attach to the mattress so you can lay on something warm instead of the cold mattress, and so on.

Is it comfortable…?

It may not sound comfortable sleeping on the floor, but actually they are really nice. This of course varies depending on the quality you buy, but even the cheaper variety I’ve bought are very soft and comfortable to lay on.

Other benefits

In addition to being comfortable, being able to pack up your bedand reuse the space for other things during the day is very handy. When you see how little space Japanese apartments and houses have, you realize just how handy that is.

Also, since they are relatively light and portable, they are easier to keep clean than regular beds. It is common to see futon shanging out windows and from balconies during the day. This airs out the mattress and blankets and lets the sun kill any germs on them. There is also a special beater (it looks like the old carpet beaters) that housewives use to furiously beat at them as they hang outside, trying to get rid of every molecule of dust, any bed bugs, and all that kind of thing. Or maybe just to get out their anger. Either way.

Current trends

From what I understand, many kids these days don’t like futons and beg their parents to buy them “Western Beds”. Often a few years later when they get their own apartments they see the advantage of Japanese beds and switch back.

A disadvantage

The only real disadvantage is that modern floors of woodor vinyl are very cold in the winter; as a result, the futon can becomes quite cold without things like extra padding beneath it.

Traditional Japanese houses used tatami (tah-tah-me) for the flooring.

Tatami is basically a thick straw mat. It is very soft, and also in the winter it absorbs heat during the day, so is warm even in very cold nights. Modern houses still have one or two tatami rooms, but modern apartments usually don’t. At the most, they will have very small tatami rooms that aren’t large enough to sleep in.

Conclusions

For most people the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages, and so today the futon still remains more common and popular than a Western-style bed. I know I love my futon!