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Alternative sleeping surfaces, part 2: If you want a real Japanese futon, you'll need this tool, too

By Rain Noe - September 29, 2010

in Object Culture

In the quest for good sleep, last year I saved up for a real Japanese futon. The real deal is thinner and fluffier than the ridiculously dense slabs that most Americans think of as futons, and I could only find one workshop in all of New York City that makes them the traditional way. In Japan futons are traditionally meant to be folded up each morning and placed in a closet, freeing up useable square footage in a space-tight country; thick American futons are impossible to fold at all.It was comfortable for about the first six months, like sleeping on a cloud, and then it progressively grew uncomfortably flatter. I remembered my time in Japan when I'd see housewives beating futons on their balconies on sunny afternoons with this unusual-looking rattan stick.

Further research revealed you're supposed to beat a real futon at least weekly, always outdoors (in case dust mites have gathered in the futon), and in direct sunlight, which is believed to kill any dusty bacteria that's gathered. Beating it both rids the futon of dust and re-fluffs it.

Not having a tennis racket or similar implement, I searched for a futon tataki, the beating stick pictured above, but unsurprisingly no one in the 'States seems to carry them. I then started looking for a traditional carpet beater, and every rug/carpet store I called treated me like I was crazy. (It is, after all, a Victorian-era implement; I might as well have been calling doctors asking if they could "leach" me.) Pottery Barn sold some fragile-looking ornamental ones that you hang on your wall, as did a boutique I found in SoHo, but both were ridiculously overpriced.

I finally found a traditional rattan carpet beater sold by Garrett Wade, a woodworking supply company, for just 20 bucks.

Hauling my futon up to the roof and rigging up a pole to hang it from was a chore, but worth it to beat the thing out--each blow produced surprisingly prodigious dust clouds. And now that it's refluffed I'm back to blissful slumber, but not sure if I can keep this up every week. A real Japanese futon is way more comfortable than the other kind, but it's a lot more maintenance, too.

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Ian

14 years ago

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Would you share the name of the authentic futon-maker you found?
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Peter

14 years ago

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Would you be so kind as to tell us the name of the company in New York where you purchased your tradional futon?

Many thanks.
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James

14 years ago

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I'd like to hear more about the Japanese futon.
Whom did you buy it from? How much was it?
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Kandice Levero

14 years ago

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I have been living in Tokyo for one year now and we sleep on a pretty expensive futon. I sleep on my side and if you do the same, DO NOT BUY A FUTON!! I have intense shoulder pain today and many days. I really need to buy a futon to put under our futon. That said, the empty tatami mat room is a beautiful sight and i adore our apartment and neighborhood of Sugamo.
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Ko Nakatsu

14 years ago

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Instead of reading my comment above, Kenya Hara does an insanely better explanation of the meaning of "Mu", or emptiness in the video below. He doesn't talk about the futon exactly but that object still embodies the philosophies of Japan that he talks about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG4uRmTJUU8
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Ko Nakatsu

14 years ago

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What you've bought into, is the ancient philosophies of Japan. The futon's fold-away function is not for "freeing up useable square footage in a space-tight country". That notion is merely a benefit from the true meaning and original philosophy of a futon. The true reason for the fold-and-store-away function is so that you can create an "empty space".

By creating an empty-space, it allows for limitless potential of reasons for the room's existence. It could become a tea room, dinner room, bedroom, entertainment room... the empty room creates "potential" to be any room. Traditional rooms in Japan (which are becoming rare) often have nothing that is permanent, even the "walls" or fusuma, slide away to create a larger expansive empty-space. The people, wall, furniture, and artwork, enter and then leave the room, to return it to empty-space, full of potential. This philosophy can often be seen in many parts of the country, from objects to culture, to even an international company like Muji ("Mu" meaning "empty" or "absence" with a hint of "tranquility" and "potential". That would be the closest translation in English. )

Next time you're in Japan, look for things that you cannot see, the potential in the absence.

I don't know you, but I'm excited about your experience with a Japanese futon. It might change your lifestyle but it might also change the way you perceive everything around you in this American life.
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Steve Dekorte

14 years ago

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I wonder if there are temperpedic or some other memory foam version of Japanese futtons. Memory foam is foldable (if thin), is imune to dust and dust mites, and may also be more comfortable.
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