As you can see, a futon is a mat that you put on the ground to sleep on. Ours is memory foam, so is more comfortable than it looks. Not quite a Sealy Pillowtop Posturepedic or anything, but it works. During the day, you put the futon away in the closet so you can use the room for other things. If you leave the futon out on the tatami all the time, body heat builds up between the two and can cause the tatami to mold and rot, so even if you're not using the room for other things you really should put the futon away during the day. Here's how it looks in our closet:
The futon is very versatile, especially when you don't have a couch or a table. You can fold up the top third and place it against a wall, and then fold up the bottom third for a more comfortable seat, and you have a couch-like structure from your bed. Very useful. Folded up:
Ready for use:
If we really wanted, we could get a bed, but the beds here tend to be uncomfortable, and I like the traditional futon. We'll see if I still like it a year or two from now or if we've caved and gotten an actual bed.
Our office room is also a tatami room. If we get any visitors, we'll probably use that as the guest room as well, and get some tatami mats for that room so that anyone who wants to visit can say they've had the traditional experience of sleeping in a Japanese tatami room. What greater incentive do you need?
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