和室で使われる畳とその応用商品

[From July Issue 2012]

 

You could say that traditional Japanese rooms naturally derive their beautifully simple ambience from tatami flooring. Tatami is made of three components: the surface known as tatami omote, the inner part called tatami doko, and the edging, tatami beri. The surface is made of igusa, a species of rush that has been used in Japan for around 2000 years.

The inner part of the tatami is about 5.5 centimeters thick and is made from straw. The material used for the edging binds the inner part to the surface of the mat. Depending on the purpose of the tatami, the material for the border can be made of cotton, linen or silk. The fabric is decorated with typical Japanese patterns that enhance the beauty of the tatami mat.

Tatami mats are of a fixed size of 174 centimeters long and 87 centimeters wide (in the east of Japan) and are also used for measuring square footage. The length of a tatami mat is always exactly twice as long as its width. The size of a room is measured in tsubo (3.3 square meters). One tsubo is equivalent to the size of two tatami mats.

Tatami were first used as cushions to elevate the person with the highest status. It was later customary to use it as flooring for tea ceremony rooms and then was more widely used in normal rooms. Shoes are not permitted on tatami. Furthermore, you should not place your feet on top of the border. There are also regulations concerning how far the chawan (teacup) should be from the edge of the tatami.

The use of tatami is waning: modern apartments and houses might have only one tatami room, or none at all. Tatami is usually made locally by small businesses, who are now seeking new practical applications for tatami. Products such as tatami cell phone and iPad covers, tatami clocks, or vase coasters, have recently appeared and are becoming more and more popular, not only amongst foreigners, but also with Japanese.

http://www.ANYTHING-FROM-JAPAN.COM/?Click=94

Text: Nicolas SOERGEL

[2012年7月号掲載記事]

 

日本の伝統的な部屋は、床が簡素で美しい雰囲気のある畳でできています。畳は三つの部分からできています。畳表と呼ばれる表面、畳床と呼ばれる内部、そして畳縁。表面は2000年ほど前から日本で使用されてきたイグサから作られています。

畳床は5.5センチほどの厚さで、わらでできています。畳縁の生地は畳床と畳表を縫い付けて止めます。畳縁の生地は目的により、綿、リンネル、絹が使われます。繊維は、畳の美しさを引き立てる伝統的な日本の洋式で飾られます。

畳のサイズは定形で長さ174センチ、幅87センチ(東日本)。正方形の計測にも使われます。畳一枚の長さは、幅の倍と決まっています。部屋の大きさは坪(3.3平方メートル)で表します。一坪は畳2枚の大きさです。

畳は最初、位の高い人のためのクッションとして使われました。その後、茶室の床として定着し、広く庶民の部屋にも使われるようになりました。畳の上では靴をはいてはいけません。また、縁はふまないようにします。茶道では茶碗を畳の縁からどの位置に置くかが決められています。

畳の使用は減っています。モダンなマンションや一戸建ての家には、畳の部屋は一つだけ、さもなければ、まったくありません。畳は主に地方の小さな畳屋で作られていますが、今、畳の新しい使い道を模索しています。畳で作った、携帯やiPadのカバーや時計、花瓶敷などの製品が最近登場し、外国人ばかりでなく日本人にもますます人気となっています。

http://www.ANYTHING-FROM-JAPAN.COM/?Click=94

文:ゾェルゲル・ニコラ

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