Do you actually sleep on shikibuton? And do you prefer it compared to modern mattresses?

Konichiwa,

I am from Bulgaria. I have many Asian friends and even had a Vietnamese girlfriend (yeah, strange people, right?) a few years ago. In general I respect Asian culture and especially Japanese… Believe me when I say it: I love and adore my country and all of its good and mot so good sides, but I have a great respect for Japanese culture and always enjoy the opportunity to meet native Japanese, although communication with them could be tricky. I ALWAYS have to read between the lines 😀

Anyway, years ago a Japanese friend told me about the way Japanese sleep directly on the floor, simply by rolling “a very thick blanket” on the floor. Thats the exact words he used back in the day. He has thought me many things about Japanese culture.

Well, years have past and I still remember many of the things we talked about. And in fact for some time i have wanted to try sleeping like that.

And it got me wondering:
First of all – do you actually still sleep like that and do you prefer it to the modern mattresses? Cause my mattress is supposed to be of high quality, but doesn’t give me a nice sleep and my friend has told me that nowadays Japanese people are much different compared to what they look like in old books.

And would you eventually give me some recommendations regarding buying a shikibuton?
I see that the most traditional is made from 100% cotton, but on the maker nowadays they sell also products made with wool, which is something I would usually prefer to cotton. I have also seen some options containing natural latex and other materials.

I was thinking of buying a shikibuton 100/200cm with an extra cover, maybe a pillow, some top blanket and eventually at some point a tatami mat underneath that I will order some carpenter to make something like a bed frame for it.

Thank you for your attention. Please give me any type of advice you have, I will be very happy to read it all!!

🙇‍♂️

https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/16vrrni/do_you_actually_sleep_on_shikibuton_and_do_you/

1 comment
  1. I think if you sleep on your side, keeping your spine in alignment generally requires a softer matress. I suspect weight also plays a role and it may be easier to sleep on the firmer shikibuton when you weigh 50kg than if you weigh 80kg or 100kg.

    I am not sure if it is their beds, but Japanese people sure do say, ‘koshi ga itai’ a lot.

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