Super Mega Important Debate: Are Japan’s futons awesome or simply awful?

Futon Top

Happy weekend, everyone! Congratulations on surviving another week!

But before you run off to smother yourself with butter and startle donkeys by shouting the names of under-appreciated actors from the 1980s (hey, we don’t know what you do with your spare time), we have one little question to ask you: are Japanese futons awesome, or are they awful?

Since you’re reading these words (and hopefully on RocketNews24 and not one of the handful of sites that thinks it’s OK to copy and paste entire articles of ours onto theirs *cough* a#@holes *cough*), there’s a good chance you fall somewhere between “it’s pretty cool” and “I wish I had been born there!” on the Japan-liking scale. But one thing that divides groups of even the most hardcore Japanophiles when they arrive in the country is the issue of whether futons – that is to say the thin, padded mattresses and not the Western-style pull-out beds – are an invention of pure genius or the work of the devil.

To some, futons are the perfect solution to living in a smaller property: they can be folded up and hidden in a cupboard when not in use, they’re comfy, and they can be spread pretty much anywhere large enough to accommodate a horizontal person. And, hey, millions of Japanese can’t be wrong, can they?

But to others, futons are simply awful. Too hard, too close to the floor (ever seen a spider scurry across the bedroom floor at night? Now imagine you’re lying in a futon and picture that again), and one just one more thing to have to deal with in the morning.

Yes, the issue of whether futons are awesome or awful has never truly been settled. That is, until now. This weekend, we – the readers of RocketNews24, its writers, and, hell, maybe even those guys who keep stealing our stuff – are going to settle this once and for all. Click, comment, and end the debate forever, good person of the internet!

Enjoy your weekend, folks!

Last week, we asked you to tell us whether you prefer to shower “Japanese” or “Western” style, i.e. first thing in the morning or last thing at night. Here’s what you had to say:

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