Tatami

{{short description|Straw mat used as flooring in Japan}} {{about|the Japanese flooring|the Japanese armour component|Tatami-dō|the film|Tatami (film)}} [[File:Enkō-ji, Kyoto Inside.jpg|thumb|Tatami mat in Enkō-ji]]

{{Nihongo|'''Tatami'''|畳}} are soft mats used as flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. They are made in standard sizes, twice as long as wide, about {{convert|0.9|by|1.8|m|ft|0}}, depending on the region. In martial arts, tatami are used for training in a dojo and for competition.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Quest for the Perfect Judo Floor {{!}} Judo Info|url=https://judoinfo.com/tatami/|website=judoinfo.com|access-date=2020-05-05}}</ref>

Tatami are covered with a weft-faced weave of {{nihongo|soft rush|藺草|igusa}} on a warp of hemp or weaker cotton. There are four warps per weft shed, two at each end (or sometimes two per shed, one at each end, to reduce cost). The {{Transliteration|ja|doko}} (core) is traditionally made from sewn-together rice straw, but contemporary tatami sometimes have compressed wood chip boards or extruded polystyrene foam in their cores instead or as well. The long sides are usually {{nihongo|edged|縁|heri}} with brocade or plain cloth, although some tatami have no edging.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kyo-tatami.com/english/about|title=Understanding Tatami|date=28 June 2015|access-date=2016-10-31 |publisher=Motoyama Tatami shop }}</ref><ref name="igusa">{{cite web |title=Structure of Tatami |url=https://kyo-tatami.com/world/about/ |website=kyo-tatami.com |publisher=Motoyama Tatami Shop |access-date=14 June 2021 |date=2015-06-28}}</ref>

They have also traditionally been used for tameshigiri, the Japanese art of target test cutting.<ref>Sesko, Markus (2014). Tameshigiri, p. 196</ref>

<gallery caption=Construction mode=packed> File:Modern tatami.JPG|Machine-sewing of tatami File:Tatami sectional view.jpg|Cross-section of a modern tatami with an extruded polystyrene foam core File:Men Making Tatami Mats, 1860 - ca. 1900.jpg|Making tatami mats, late 19th century. File:Tatami.jpg|Close-up of mat surface and edging </gallery>

==History==

The term ''tatami'' is derived from the verb {{nihongo||畳む|tatamu}}, meaning 'to fold' or 'to pile'. This indicates that the early tatami were thin and could be folded up when not used or piled in layers.<ref name="KoandaTatami">Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan, entry for "tatami".</ref>

Tatami were originally a luxury item for the nobility. The lower classes had mat-covered earthen floors.<ref name="tatamiluxury">{{cite web |url=http://www.yoshinoantiques.com/Interior-article.html |title=The Yoshino Newsletter |access-date=2007-03-28 |work=Floors/Tatami |publisher=Yoshino Japanese Antiques |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070331133235/http://www.yoshinoantiques.com/Interior-article.html |archive-date=2007-03-31 }}</ref> During the Heian period, when the shinden-zukuri architectural style of aristocratic residences was consummated, the flooring of shinden-zukuri palatial rooms was mainly wooden, and tatami were used as seating only for the highest aristocrats.<ref name="Sato Osamu 1994"/>

In the Kamakura period, there arose the shoin-zukuri architectural style of residence for the samurai and priests who had gained power. This architectural style reached its peak of development in the Muromachi period, when tatami gradually came to be spread over whole rooms, beginning with small rooms. Floors completely covered with tatami came to be known as {{nihongo||座敷|zashiki}}, {{lit.|spread out for sitting}}, and rules concerning seating and etiquette determined the arrangement of the tatami in the rooms.<ref name="Sato Osamu 1994"/>

Before the mid-16th century, the ruling nobility and samurai slept on tatami or woven mats called {{nihongo||茣蓙|goza}}, while commoners used straw mats or loose straw for bedding.<ref>Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan, entry for "bedding"</ref> Tatami were gradually popularized and reached the homes of commoners toward the end of the 17th century.<ref name="tatamicommoners">{{cite web |url=http://www.kcif.or.jp/archive/en/newsletter/lik/archives/0304/04_2003.htm |title=Kyoto International Community House Newsletter |access-date=2007-03-28 |work=2nd section titled History of tatami |publisher=Kyoto City International Foundation |archive-date=2015-04-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150430054038/http://www.kcif.or.jp/archive/en/newsletter/lik/archives/0304/04_2003.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Houses built in Japan today often have few or no tatami-floored rooms. Having just one such room is common. Rooms having tatami flooring and other such traditional architectural features are referred to as ''nihonma'' or ''washitsu'', "Japanese-style rooms".

<gallery mode="packed" heights="200"> File:Saikū Historical Museum - Display item04 - The palace of Saiô - Miniature model.jpg|Green tatami in a museum model of the Saikū palace in ~the 9th century File:Gaki zoshi - Tokyo - part 1.jpeg|Courtiers making music, circa 1150-1200 File:Otomo no Yakamochi Agedatamibon.gif|As a dais, ~13th century File:Tengu zoshi, Nezu Museum scroll, detail 2.jpg|An almost-completely-covered floor in an illustration drawn in 1296 File:Sleeping two, Kasuga Gongen Genki (1309).jpg|Tatami being used as sleeping mats, 1309 (see futon) </gallery>

==Size==

Tatami can be categorized by their size, correlated to their place of origin:

* {{nihongo||京間|Kyōma}} tatami: {{cvt|1.91|by|0.955|m}}, originated from Kyoto * {{nihongo||中京間|Chūkyōma}} tatami: {{cvt|1.82|by|0.91|m}}, also called {{nihongo||合の間|Ainoma|{{lit.}} "in-between" size}} tatami, originated from Nagoya * {{nihongo||江戸間|Edoma}} tatami: {{cvt|1.76|by|0.88|m}}, also called {{nihongo||関東間|Kantōma}} tatami, originated from Tokyo

In terms of traditional Japanese length units, a tatami is 1 by 0.5{{nbsp}}''ken'', or equivalently 6 by 3{{nbsp}}''shaku''. The length of these units varies regionally, which led different regions to develop separate tatami size conventions. One ''shaku'' is approximately the same length as one foot in the British-American measurement system. As for thickness, {{cvt|5.5|cm}} is average for {{nihongo|||Kyōma}} tatami, while {{cvt|6.0|cm}} is the norm for {{nihongo|||Edoma}} tatami.<ref name="Sato Osamu 1994">Sato Osamu, "A History of Tatami," in Chanoyu Quarterly no. 77 (1994).</ref>

A half mat is called a {{nihongo||半畳|hanjō}}, and a mat of three-quarter length is called a {{nihongo|||daimedatami}} ({{lang|ja|大目畳}} or {{lang|ja|台目畳}}), which is used in {{nihongo|tea-ceremony rooms||chashitsu}}.<ref name="KoandaTatami"/>

In Japan, the size of a room is usually measured in relation to the size of {{nihongo|tatami mats|-畳|-jō}}, about {{cvt|1.653|m2}} for a standard Nagoya-size tatami. Alternatively, in terms of traditional Japanese area units, room area (and especially house floor area) is measured in terms of ''tsubo,'' where one ''tsubo'' is the area of two tatami mats (forming a square); formally 1 by 1{{nbsp}}''ken'' or about {{cvt|3.306|m2}}.

Some common room sizes in the Nagoya region are: * {{frac|4|1|2}}{{nbsp}}mats = 9{{nbsp}}''shaku'' × 9{{nbsp}}''shaku'' ≈ {{cvt|2.73|×|2.73|m}} * 6{{nbsp}}mats = 12{{nbsp}}''shaku'' × 9{{nbsp}}''shaku'' ≈ {{cvt|3.64|×|2.73|m}} * 8{{nbsp}}mats = 12{{nbsp}}''shaku'' × 12{{nbsp}}''shaku'' ≈ {{cvt|3.64|×|3.64|m}}

Shops were traditionally designed to be {{frac|5|1|2}}{{nbsp}}mats, and Japanese tea rooms are frequently {{frac|4|1|2}}{{nbsp}}mats.{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}}

Another format is the {{nihongo||琉球|Ryūkyū}} tatami, originating from the Ryūkyū Islands, which are square and can have various measurements.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ryu-kyutatami.com/f/about-ryukyutatami | title=琉球畳とは }}</ref> {{nihongo|||Ryūkyū}} tatami do not have borders, and have become popular in modern times for their simplicity.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ikehikojapan.com/blogs/product/l_20210111 | title=Unexpected advantages and disadvantages of Ryukyu tatami mats in traditional traditional Japanese style rooms | date=20 February 2023 }}</ref>

==Layout== There are rules concerning the number of tatami mats and their layout in a room. {{anchor|auspicious|inauspicious}} In the Edo period, {{nihongo|"auspicious"|祝儀敷き|shūgijiki}} and {{nihongo|"inauspicious"|不祝儀敷き|fushūgijiki}} tatami arrangements were distinctly differentiated, with tatami rearranged depending on the occasion. In modern practice, the "auspicious" layout is normally used. In this arrangement, the junctions of the tatami form a "T" shape; in the "inauspicious" arrangement, the tatami are in a grid pattern wherein the junctions form a "+" shape.<ref name="Sato Osamu 1994"/> An auspicious tiling often requires the use of {{frac|1|2}} mats to tile a room.<ref name="tilings">{{cite conference | last1 = Erickson | first1 = Alejandro | last2 = Ruskey | first2 = Frank | author2-link = Frank Ruskey | last3 = Schurch | first3 = Mark | last4 = Woodcock | first4 = Jennifer | editor1-last = Thai | editor1-first = My T. | editor2-last = Sahni | editor2-first = Sartaj | arxiv = 1103.3309 | contribution = Auspicious tatami mat arrangements | doi = 10.1007/978-3-642-14031-0_32 | mr = 2720105 | pages = 288–297 | publisher = Springer | series = Lecture Notes in Computer Science | title = Computing and Combinatorics, 16th Annual International Conference, COCOON 2010, Nha Trang, Vietnam, July 19-21, 2010. Proceedings | volume = 6196 | year = 2010}}</ref> It is NP-complete to determine whether a large room has an auspicious arrangement using only full mats.<ref>{{cite conference | last1 = Erickson | first1 = Alejandro | last2 = Ruskey | first2 = Frank | author2-link = Frank Ruskey | editor1-last = Lecroq | editor1-first = Thierry | editor2-last = Mouchard | editor2-first = Laurent | arxiv = 1305.6669 | contribution = Domino tatami covering is NP-complete | doi = 10.1007/978-3-642-45278-9_13 | location = Heidelberg | mr = 3162068 | pages = 140–149 | publisher = Springer | series = Lecture Notes in Computer Science | title = Combinatorial Algorithms: 24th International Workshop, IWOCA 2013, Rouen, France, July 10-12, 2013, Revised Selected Papers | volume = 8288 | year = 2013| s2cid = 12738241 }}</ref>

An inauspicious layout was used to avoid bad fortune at inauspicious events such as funerals. Now it is widely associated with bad luck and itself avoided.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kalland|first=Arne|date=April 1999|title=Houses, People and Good Fortune: Geomancy and Vernacular Architecture in Japan|journal=Worldviews|volume=3|issue=1|pages=33–50|jstor=43809122|doi=10.1163/156853599X00036}}</ref> <gallery mode=packed heights=200> File:JapanHomes101 ARRANGEMENT OF MATS IN DIFFERENT-SIZED ROOMS.jpg|Some auspicious layouts from the early 1800s (Edo Period) Image:Tatami layout 1.svg|One possible auspicious layout of a {{frac|4|1|2}} mat room {{legend|#ff7f7f|Half mat}}{{legend|#4992ff|Full mat}} Image:Tearoom layout.svg|Typical layout of a {{frac|4|1|2}} mat tea room in the cold season, when the hearth built into the floor is in use. The room has a ''tokonoma'' and ''mizuya dōko'' Image:Youkoukan06n4592.jpg|Room with tatami flooring in an inauspicious layout and paper doors (shōji) File:Anforet 3F 2017-06-02 ac (2).jpg|An auspicious layout File:ITatami (8465411258).jpg|"T" shape File:Tatami (51687126569).jpg|Ryūkyū ''tatami'' are square shaped without borders </gallery>

==See also== * Higashiyama Bunka in Muromachi period * Petate * Tameshigiri

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{commons category-inline|Tatami}}

Category:Interior design Category:Japanese architectural features Category:Japanese home Category:Japanese rugs and carpets Category:Straw products Category:Units of area Category:Japanese martial arts equipment