A floor covering made of tightly woven grass and
straw. A standard tatami is a rectangular mat about 1.82m (≒6') long ×
92cm(≒3') wide × 5.25cm (≒2') thick. However, dimensions vary to some extent according
to the geographical location. A tatami mat made from rice straw is very
tightly woven. This is covered with tightly woven rush grass that makes a very
smooth surface. Each of the long sides are bound with cloth. Black, dark blue
or brown cloth is often used in ordinary homes, but in elegant mansions and in
some temples the binding is made of a type of damask. It is beautifully woven
with gold, silver and other colored silk threads. Tatami are resilient
when walked upon. Slippers are never worn on tatami. When bedding, futon,
is laid upon the tatami, it provides a very comfortable place to sleep.
The bedding is removed in the morning to a special storage place leaving a tatami
room free for day time use. In the ancient period, there was no tatami
of the type familiar today. Rather, there were simple sleeping mats, cushions
and straw mats to sit on. In the Heian period in *shinden-zukuri
寝殿造 mansions, individual straw mats were common among the nobility. They were
stored when not in use. From the Kamakura period, straw mats began
to be laid over the entire floor area. During the Muromachi period,
tatami mats were set closely together, and gradually became common. They
were called shikidatami 敷畳 in contrast to okidatami 置畳 that meant
a single mat like cushion. A person's social status could be easily recognized
by the thickness of the mats, the colors and patterns of the bindings of the tatami
on which he sat. Tatami made in Kyoto is called kyoumadatami 京間畳
and tatami used in the country side is called inakadatami 田舎畳. The
former is 191cm long, 95cm wide and 5cm thick; the latter is about 176cm long,
88cm wide and 5.5cm thick. Long tatami may be 197cm long × 7 cm thick.
Tatami in tea ceremony rooms *chashitsu
茶室, have special names. The host's mat may be called shudatami 主畳, *temaedatami
点前畳 or *dougudatami 道具畳. The tatami located where the host enters
is called *fumikomidatami 踏込畳. When the guest is a nobleman, he sits on a
tatami mat called *kinindatami 貴人畳. The seat for ordinary guests
is called *kyakudatami 客畳. The tatami located the hearth, is called *rodatami 炉畳 and the mat for utensils is called dougudatami. |
