Tatami is an original Japanese flooring, a traditional mat made of plant materials.
Rice straw called "tatami-doko" is compressed, then covered by "tatami-omote", a mat made of woven soft rush straw called "igusa".
When we walk in a Japanese house, we take off our shoes at the entrance and enter barefeet into the tatami room.
Until the 10th century, tatami mats were partially placed on a wooden floor, like "zabuton (Japanese cushion for sitting)". After the 14th century, the whole floor started to be covered with tatami mats. It is a very unusual flooring culture, not seen elsewhere in the world.
Tatami is resilient and thermal compared to the wooden floor. It can also adjust to temperatures and purify the air, which helps making a comfortable cool room in summer and a cozy warm room in winter. This material perfectly suits the distinctive Japanese four seasons' climate conditions.
The size of tatami slightly differs from different regions, but are about the same and measures around 90cm×180cm. We call this "ichi-jou (one mat)". Japanese rooms are usually measured by this unit (for instance "a 6-mat room"). The size of 2 tatami mats is called "hito-tsubo" and the land is still measured today by this unit (although it is not always very accurate).
This custom of thinking in "unit" is not only used in architecture, but also in our daily life. Such as a Japanese lunch box separated into small units and the kimono folded in square units. It has deeply filtered in our life and is in fact making the Japanese culture.
Old tatami withers and turns brownish, the surface becomes fluffy. This is why tatami is occasionally turned around or renewed. There is no specific season to change the tatami, but people used to change them at the end of the year and celebrate the New Year with a renewed floor, or at the end of the rain season in June, just before "obon (custom to honor the deceased in July or August depending on regions)".
The pale green of a new tatami is not only fresh to the eye but also has a sweet fragrance of hay. "The smell of tatami = igusa" gives a Japanese person a refreshing feeling of happiness combined with sweet memories of the smell.
Nowdays life styles have shifted to western ways and tatami rooms are gradually disappearing from Japanese houses. If you ever have the chance to visit Japan, I strongly recommend staying in a traditional "Ryokan (a Japanese style hotel)" and experience the feeling of tatami.
