Japanese Cushions

Japan sits on the floor, and the floor has furniture. The zabuton is the flat square or round cushion placed on the tatami for a guest; the zafu is the thick round one the temple sits on to meditate; the tatami round is the rush-straw mat made small enough to carry. Ten here: round zabuton in blue-and-white wave prints, a plain round with a centre button, a flat tatami round woven from rush straw, the straw zafu, a square tufted chair cushion in patchwork prints, and three plush ones shaped as a cherry blossom, a hamster and a bread roll, for the children. This page is about sitting low, and which cushion is for what.

Zabuton, zafu, tatami: three ways to sit on the floor

The zabuton is offered to a guest the moment they enter a tatami room and it is rude to step on it; you kneel onto it, in seiza, or sit cross-legged, and you leave it where it was when you go. Ours are round rather than the traditional square, padded, in prints or plain. The zafu is thicker and firmer, a raised seat that tips the pelvis forward so the spine stays straight through an hour of zazen; ours is woven straw in a spiral coil. The tatami round is the rush straw of the floor mat itself, coiled tight and flat, firm and cool in summer, for a seat, a footrest or a stand for a pot. The sake set and the matcha bowl are what the cushion is set beside; the noren is what the room is entered through.

The ten

The round zabuton in a blue and white Japanese print, waves, scales or patchwork, padded, in three prints and three sizes from 43 to 59 cm. The round tufted zabuton in five prints: navy waves, cream with script, grey chevrons, grey dots, pink with cats. The plain round cushion in a soft napped cloth drawn in at the centre with a button, in turquoise, beige, navy or brown. The round cushion pieced in eight segments like a pumpkin from a patchwork of prints, in navy, red, blue or yellow. The square tufted chair cushion in a patchwork of blue and white wave and scale prints. The flat tatami round woven from rush straw, in a pale natural or a darker toasted straw, 30 cm across. The thick straw zafu. And the three plush: a five-petalled cherry blossom in pale blue, pink or yellow; a sitting hamster with a padded seat and a back, the paws as armrests, for a child; and a ring cushion shaped as a golden bread roll with an embroidered face.

How to use them

A pair of zabuton either side of a low table is a dinner for two on the floor, with a tatami round under the pot. The zafu goes on a zabuton, which is the traditional pairing: the firm seat on the soft mat, and you sit on the front third of the zafu with the knees on the zabuton. The chair cushion ties onto a wooden chair. The plush ones go where the child puts them. A zabuton on a Western sofa is a cushion with a story, and the blue-and-white wave prints sit beside a Hokusai without arguing.

Care

The printed and plain cushions have removable covers or wipe clean; the straw ones brush, and dry in shade if they get wet; the plush ones spot-clean. Made to Japanese designs in Asia, and every page says so.

Japanese cushions: the questions we are asked

What is a zabuton?

The flat floor cushion a guest is offered in a tatami room. Traditionally square; ours are round, padded and printed.

Zafu or zabuton for meditation?

Both, together: the zafu is the firm raised seat, the zabuton the soft mat under the knees. The straw zafu here is the temple shape.

What size zabuton?

43 cm for a chair or a child, 49 cm for the floor, 59 cm for a big seat or a dog. The wave-print one comes in all three.

Are the straw ones comfortable?

Firm and cool, which is the point in summer. Put a zabuton on top if you want soft.