Japanese tatami mats

Today we are travelling from the 5 star resorts in Spain Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa to Japan to find out about one of its most famous traditional elements: the Japanese Tatami mats

A tatami is a type of mat used as a flooring material in traditional Japanese houses. It was traditionally made of rice straw with a woven covering of soft rush straw. Currently it contains other modern material such as polystyrene.

Tatami mats have been around since the Heian Period. Tatamis were a status symbol; they were luxury items only used by nobility. The rest of Japanese people slept on wooden floors. At the end of the 1600s, tatami mats became more common. Nowadays you can find them in every Japanese business or house.

Tatami mats are linked to Japanese traditions such as the tea ceremony. All Japanese houses have at least one room with tatami mats for performing this tradition, welcoming guests or relaxing.

There are different rules for the placing of tatamis. Japanese people believe that if tatamis are not well placed they will bring bad luck.

Traditional tatami mats are decorated with green and violet silk ribbons and with gold brocades. The price of a tatami depends on its ribbons and the amount of materials that were used for its manufacturing.

Chairs are not used over tatami mats. Japanese people use Zabuton cushions to sit down.

Currently we can mainly find tatami mats in the West at schools were martial arts, Feng Shui, yoga and other disciplines of mental and physical relaxation are practised.

At the luxury hotel in Spain Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa we have tatamis in our Relaxation Area. Come to relax at our Asian paradise in the Mediterranean!