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A is a traditional Japanese style of
bedding Bedding, also known as bedclothes or bed linen, is the materials laid above the mattress of a bed for hygiene, warmth, protection of the mattress, and decorative effect. Bedding is the removable and washable portion of a human sleeping environm ...
. A complete futon set consists of a and a . Both elements of a futon bedding set are pliable enough to be folded and stored away in a large during the day. This allows a room to serve as a bedroom at night, but serve other purposes during the day. Traditionally, futons are used on
tatami A is a type of mat used as a flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. Tatamis are made in standard sizes, twice as long as wide, about 0.9 m by 1.8 m depending on the region. In martial arts, tatami are the floor used for traini ...
, a type of mat used as a
flooring Flooring is the general term for a permanent covering of a floor, or for the work of installing such a floor covering. Floor covering is a term to generically describe any finish material applied over a floor structure to provide a walking surface ...
material. It also provides a softer base than, say, a floor of wood or stone. Futons must be aired regularly to prevent mold from developing, and to keep the futon free of mites. Throughout Japan, futons can commonly be seen hanging over balconies, airing in the sun.
Futon dryer A is an electric device that warms and dries a Japanese ''futon'' by forcing warm air through it. Mechanism A ''futon'' dryer works by drawing in air with an electric fan and heating it, and then forcing it into a large cloth pouch. The pouch ...
s may be used by those unable to hang out their futon.


History and materials

File:Sleeping two, Kasuga Gongen Genki (1309).jpg, Sleeping on tatami, with no futon, and clothes used as coverings. Early 14th century File:Child's Sleeping Mat (boro Shikimono), late 19th century (CH 1108827543).jpg, Child's , late 1800s. (patchwork) held together with over-all
quilting Quilting is the term given to the process of joining a minimum of three layers of fabric together either through stitching manually using a needle and thread, or mechanically with a sewing machine or specialised longarm quilting system. A ...
stitching; see . 白綸子地牡丹縞模様夜着-Kimono-shaped Comforter (Yogi) with Peonies and Stripes MET DP317744.jpg, A warm winter , front 白綸子地牡丹縞模様夜着-Kimono-shaped Comforter (Yogi) with Peonies and Stripes MET DP317746.jpg, Back. Early 20th century. THE FAMILY IN BED. (1910) - illustration - page 137.png, Typical Tokyo family sleeping arrangements of 1910
Before recycled cotton cloth was widely available in Japan, commoners used , stitched crinkled paper stuffed with fibers from beaten dry straw,
cattail ''Typha'' is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have a variety of common names, in British English as bulrush or reedmace, in American English as reed, cattail, or punks, in A ...
s, or silk waste, on straw floor mats. Later, futons were made with patchwork recycled cotton, quilted together and filled with
bast fiber Bast fibre (also called phloem fibre or skin fibre) is plant fibre collected from the phloem (the "inner bark", sometimes called "skin") or bast surrounding the stem of certain dicotyledonous plants. It supports the conductive cells of the phlo ...
. Later they were filled with cotton. Wool and synthetics are now also used. ( よぎ, literally "nightclothes") are kimono-shaped bedclothes. They were used in the 1800s and early 1900s. Rectangular s are now widely used. s vary in materials; some are warmer than others. Those with traditional cotton filling feel heavier than those with feather or synthetic fillings. Traditional ( まくら) are generally firmer than western pillows. They may be filled with beans, buckwheat
chaff Chaff (; ) is the dry, scaly protective casing of the seeds of cereal grains or similar fine, dry, scaly plant material (such as scaly parts of flowers or finely chopped straw). Chaff is indigestible by humans, but livestock can eat it. In agri ...
,
bran Bran, also known as miller's bran, is the hard outer layers of cereal grain. It consists of the combined aleurone and pericarp. Corn (maize) bran also includes the pedicel (tip cap). Along with germ, it is an integral part of whole grains, ...
, or, modernly, plastic beads, all of which mold to the head. Historically, some women used wooden headrests to protect their hairstyles.


Dimensions

Futons are traditionally laid on
tatami A is a type of mat used as a flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. Tatamis are made in standard sizes, twice as long as wide, about 0.9 m by 1.8 m depending on the region. In martial arts, tatami are the floor used for traini ...
rush mats, which are resilient and can absorb and re-release up to half a liter of moisture each. Tatamis measure 1 by 0.5
ken Ken or KEN may refer to: Entertainment * ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer. * ''Ken'' (film), 1964 Japanese film. * ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine. * Ken Masters, a main character in ...
, just under 1 by 2 meters, the same size as a Western
twin bed Standard bed sizes are based on standard mattress sizes, which vary from country to country. Bed sizes also vary according to the size and degree of ornamentation of the bed frame. Dimensions and names vary considerably around the world, with ...
. A traditional is also about the size of a Western
twin bed Standard bed sizes are based on standard mattress sizes, which vary from country to country. Bed sizes also vary according to the size and degree of ornamentation of the bed frame. Dimensions and names vary considerably around the world, with ...
. , double-bed-sized s were available, but they can be a bit heavy and awkward to stow. The is usually thick, and rarely as much as thick; they need to dry well, or they will become heavy and mouldy. A is thus about as thick as a Western
mattress topper A mattress pad, mattress topper, or underpad is designed to lie atop a mattress. Made from a variety of materials such as wool, cotton, memory foam, feather or latex, its function is to provide an extra layer of comfort, especially when the exis ...
. If more thickness is needed, s are layered. s may be wider than s, and they vary in thickness. Depending on the weather, they may be layered with a warm (), or replaced with a lighter (). The traditional is usually smaller than a western pillow. File:布団干し_(528985156).jpg, Futons hung out to
air The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing f ...
on a balcony. File:Futons ranges.jpg, Futons stored in an , in a tatami-floored (traditional Japanese room) File:Tatami sectional view.jpg, Cross-section of a
tatami A is a type of mat used as a flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. Tatamis are made in standard sizes, twice as long as wide, about 0.9 m by 1.8 m depending on the region. In martial arts, tatami are the floor used for traini ...
mat with a hidden extruded-polystyrene core and layers of the traditional (common rush) top and bottom. File:Japanese_Pipe_Pillow.jpg, Pillow filled with tiny sections of plastic tubing.


Western-style futons

In the 1980s, futons became fashionable in North America. The construction method was similar to that of contemporary Japanese futons: cotton batting, covered in cotton
ticking Ticking is a type of cloth, traditionally a tightly-woven cotton or linen textile. It is traditionally used to cover tick mattresses and bed pillows. The tight weave makes it more durable and hinders the stuffing (straw, chaff, hair, down feathers, ...
and held in place with hand-sewn
tufting Tufting is a type of textile manufacturing in which a thread is inserted on a primary base. It is an ancient technique for making warm garments, especially mittens. After the knitting is done, short U-shaped loops of extra yarn are introduced thro ...
(through-thickness stitches). This was also the structure that had been used in the United States' 1940-1941 Cotton Mattress Program, designed to use excess cotton production by subsidizing materials for people to make their own cotton mattresses. However, Western-style futons, which typically resemble low, wooden
sofa bed A sofa bed or sofa-bed (in the US often called a sofabed, hide-a-bed, bed-couch, sleeper-sofa, or pullout sofa) is a multifunctional furniture typically consisting of a sofa or couch that, underneath its seating cushions, hides a metal frame and ...
s, differ considerably from their Japanese counterparts. They often have the dimensions of standard western mattresses, and are too thick to fold double and stow easily in a cupboard. They are often set up and stored on a slatted frame, which avoids having to move them to air regularly, especially in the dry indoor air of a centrally-heated house (most Japanese homes were not traditionally centrally-heated).


Futon-like traditional European beds

Traditional European beds resembled Japanese-style futon sets, with thin
tick mattress A tick mattress, bed tick or tick is a large bag made of strong, stiff, tightly-woven material (ticking). This is then filled to make a mattress, with material such as straw, chaff, horsehair, coarse wool or down feathers,Dictionnaire de l'ameu ...
es. These were only sometimes set on a bedframe. The term "bed" did not originally include the bedframe, but only the bedding, the same components included in a Japanese futon set.Dictionnaire de l'ameublement et de la décoration depuis le XIIIe siècle jusqu'à nos jours, Havard, Henry, 1838-1921 It was also traditional to air these beds, and duvets are still aired in the window in Europe. In English-speaking cultures, however, airing bedding outdoors came to be seen as a foreign practice, with 19th-century housekeeping manuals giving methods of airing beds inside, and disparaging airing them in the window as "German-style". File:Mattress topper atop a boxspring mattress.webp, A
mattress topper A mattress pad, mattress topper, or underpad is designed to lie atop a mattress. Made from a variety of materials such as wool, cotton, memory foam, feather or latex, its function is to provide an extra layer of comfort, especially when the exis ...
(white) on a boxspring mattress (grey). Mattress toppers are generally structurally similar to futons, are often made of similar materials, and (in the case of twin-bed toppers) have similar dimensions. Note the tufting. File:Wikimania 2014 - Victoria and Albert Museum - The Great Bed of Ware221398.jpg, Museum samples demonstrating a 1590s bed: the
bedcords A rope bed is a type of platform bed in which the sleeper (and mattress) is supported by a lattice of rope, rather than wooden slats. In cold climates, a rope bed would be topped with one or more insulating palliasse or bedticks, which would tra ...
, bedmat, three
tick mattress A tick mattress, bed tick or tick is a large bag made of strong, stiff, tightly-woven material (ticking). This is then filled to make a mattress, with material such as straw, chaff, horsehair, coarse wool or down feathers,Dictionnaire de l'ameu ...
es in dun and striped
ticking Ticking is a type of cloth, traditionally a tightly-woven cotton or linen textile. It is traditionally used to cover tick mattresses and bed pillows. The tight weave makes it more durable and hinders the stuffing (straw, chaff, hair, down feathers, ...
, and the bedlinen. File:Edmund Dulac - Princess and pea.jpg, The fairytale
The Princess and the Pea "The Princess and the Pea" ( da, "Prinsessen paa Ærten"; direct translation: "The Princess on the Pea") is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a young woman whose royal ancestry is established by a test of her sensitivity. ...
exaggerates the traditional European layering of thin mattresses File:Medical Department - Sanitary Service - Sanitation - Beds airing, Camp Funston, Kansas - NARA - 45499067 (cropped to image).jpg, "Beds airing, Camp Funston,
Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...
", in 1917 or 1918. File:Dubrovnik, varios 23.jpg, Airing a feather duvet in Dubrovnik, 2010


See also

* Bed base, for a comparison with similar beds * , a spirit-possessed
boroboro are a class of Japanese textiles that have been mended or patched together. The term is derived from the Japanese term , meaning something tattered or repaired. The term typically refers to cotton, linen and hemp materials, mostly hand-woven ...
*
Day bed A day is the time rotation period, period of a full Earth's rotation, rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours, 1440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds. In everyday life, the word "day" often refers to a solar time, s ...
(bed used for other purposes during the day) *
Futon dryer A is an electric device that warms and dries a Japanese ''futon'' by forcing warm air through it. Mechanism A ''futon'' dryer works by drawing in air with an electric fan and heating it, and then forcing it into a large cloth pouch. The pouch ...
, for airing futons when they can't be placed outside *
Housing in Japan Housing in Japan includes modern and traditional styles. Two patterns of residences are predominant in contemporary Japan: the single-family detached house and the multiple-unit building, either owned by an individual or corporation and re ...
, for cultural context * (unit on which houses are traditionally built) *
Mattress topper A mattress pad, mattress topper, or underpad is designed to lie atop a mattress. Made from a variety of materials such as wool, cotton, memory foam, feather or latex, its function is to provide an extra layer of comfort, especially when the exis ...
(a type of thin Western mattress, similar to a futon) *
Tick mattress A tick mattress, bed tick or tick is a large bag made of strong, stiff, tightly-woven material (ticking). This is then filled to make a mattress, with material such as straw, chaff, horsehair, coarse wool or down feathers,Dictionnaire de l'ameu ...
, futon-like European bedding * (the type of rooms in which futons are frequently used) * (sitting ''futon'', a smaller cushion)


References

{{Authority control Beds Couches Japanese home Mattresses Portable furniture