In Japan rice straw tatami mats have largely fallen out of use.

n Japan rice straw tatami mats have largely fallen out of use. This is due to changes in the home environment. Until 50 years ago, Japanese homes tended to be constructed of wood, and using rice straw tatami mats in these buildings was not a problem. Nowadays however homes are built to be airtight.

Given the high humidity of Japan’s climate (in the rainy season etc.), rice straw tatami mats in airtight homes are subject to mite and mold infestation. As a result, there are now very few homes with this kind of mat.

At present, the material used for tatami mat cores is insulation fiber board. Over 90% of Japanese-style rooms in Japan use fiber board tatami mats.

When rice straw tatami mats are exported, there is the issue of quarantine, so our suggestion would be fiber board tatami mats.

Our company’s tatami mats are made with the threads on the sides concealed to give the borders an attractive finish when the mats are for use directly on floors. In addition, they have a non-slip base to prevent them from moving around when laid on top of flooring materials.