Why I love to sleep on a futon
Activity > Not area specific > Culture
I grew up in America, New York (half upper state, half in the city). My family is 100% American... well, mostly from Italy but that was way back. Until I was 19, I never considered living in an over-seas "foreign" country... until... I stumbled upon "Anime". NOTE! I am NOT an Anime freak! I just thought it was cool, interesting and checked it out a bit. While "checking out" Anime, I also started learning about Japan. It wasn't long before I wanted to visit, if not possible live in Japan. So... time went by... another story and a year and a half later I found myself living in Tokyo. I have stories and opinions galore but for this post I want to focus on why I fell in love with sleeping on a futon!
Futon at a Ryokan
Firm yet Soft and Comfy
I've never been one of those people who like a soft fluffy bed, I prefer a "firm" place to sleep and a futon really covers that. Actually if you are too careful you can get a futon that has very little padding and is too hard! You'll wake up with a stuff back in the morning. You can't jump up and down on a futon and have a pillow fight though LOL especially in Japan because most likely your living in a "Mansion" (apartment) and the person below won't appreciate it much.
Futon ready to be slept in
Sprawl Ability
That's right, "sprawl". I'm a guy that moves around a lot when I sleep. I'm sure it bothers my Japanese girlfriend but... I'm just restless. I roll this way and that, spread my arms out, throw my legs left and right... with a bed I'll either roll off or my limbs are always hanging off the side. With a Japanese futon, no problem. Usually Japanese futons are pretty big (width and height) so I have plenty of room to roll and even if I do throw a limb off the edge, it's only a couple inches to the floor.
So warm in the winter
Feeling of "Comfy"
Actually I can't explain this one but there is nothing like visiting my girlfriends parents house out in the country and crawling into a nice warm futon in the winter. I guess... its "close" to the feeling I get when I would visit my grandparents house and the snow falling hard outside but... for some reason I prefer the "Comfyness" of a futon over than warm bed. That bed was a single and I felt kinda "locked in" (didn't have the "sprawl" factor), maybe that's it. I really can't explain it! Am I strange? Are there other people who have adopted the futon as their preferred method? Its funny how many Japanese prefer a bed... interesting... maybe it doesn't have anything to do with from where you come from but just how your body feels about it... will have to do some more thinking.
