Futon
Futon ( Japanese 布 団 , literally: “cloth group”) is the Japanese word for “bed” and means in the broader sense “bed place / bed place”.
Meaning in Japan
The futon is subdivided into the shiki-buton sleeping pad ( 敷 布 団 , German for “laying out futon”) and the kake-buton duvet ( 掛 布 団 ).
The shiki-buton is placed directly on the floor made of tatami mats and consists of a cotton or silk cover that is filled with cotton. It is about ten centimeters high, one meter wide and 1.80 m long. The kake-buton, also called yogi , is made of a similar material and is rectangular, but can also have the shape of a kimono with sleeves and a collar. During the day these futons are folded up and stowed in a closet.
The pillows are called makura ( 枕 ). From the middle of the Edo period to the Meiji period there were mainly two types, a simple pillow roll kukuri -makura and a separate head frame called hako-makura ( 箱 枕 ), this was provided with a small pillow roll and was used for protection the hairstyle. The foot of the wooden frame housed hairstyle jewelry. Sometimes the hako-makura was long enough for two people. For the summer there were cushions made of rattan and ceramic. Pillows that perfumed the hair in sleep were called kō-makura .
In addition, outside of the sleeping area there is the zabuton seat cushion ( 座 布 団 , German "Sitz-Futon").
Change of meaning in the west
The "western" meaning of futon has evolved as a synekdoche from the original Japanese term. It often refers to the combination of a low bed and the mattress on top of this bed, the actual futon. By lowering the bed and releasing the edges, the idea of "sleeping as close to the floor as possible" was taken up without giving up the western concept of "sleeping place = bed frame + mattress".
While the thin Japanese futon is almost exclusively filled with cotton fibers and therefore requires a lot of care, the western counterpart is often a commercially available, albeit thinner mattress, which can be folded in combination with the bed frame and thus also used as a couch. Such a mattress can also be enriched with breathable, warming natural fiber inserts made of horsehair, new wool, coconut fibers and natural latex, which both increases the softness and reduces the need for care. The frame for the futon consists of metal or wood and is usually made of beech or pine.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kazuko Koizumi, Traditional Japanese Furniture , 1986, p. 102. ISBN 978-0870117220
- ↑ Kazuko Koizumi, Traditional Japanese Furniture , 1986, p. 102. ISBN 978-0870117220