Red Lantern Half Size Mat Tatami, 3' x 3', Natural

A remarkable product. I had high expectations, which were exceeded.Pros:-Absolutely gorgeous, high-quality materials and an even color.-The smell is wonderful! A cross between fresh earth and the natural materials used in the construction. I want to cut up the boxes and use them as air fresheners in my closets.-Absolute comfort. Everyone who has taken a seat on the mat has immediately laid down and remarked on how they'd enjoy sleeping on the surface. It is very firm, but forgiving in just the right way.-Relaxing. My wife and I were nearly lulled to sleep when we sat and laid down to test the new mats.Cons:-Slight cosmetic damage to edges during shipping. Hard to fault the seller since this is such a hard item to ship, damage does not hinder performance. If I could pick this up in person I would. Product was shipped in two overlapping boxes, about all the protection possible without increasing shipping cost.-There is a definite (though wonderful) smell. I could imagine people with very sensitive allergies having trouble with the smell, although I personally have suffered from seasonal allergies and hay fever and the like for my whole life, and I have absolutely no trouble with this product.I got two mats to test out the dimensions in my room, products were as advertised in all respects. I am definitely going to get the additional two and a half mats I need to complete the "idea" Japanese tearoom layout. Outstanding product, quality craftsmanship. Please support this excellent company.

When I moved I decided to get a new bed and a new mattress. I really wanted to have a Japanese futon, and the bed that was in the Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought was Fold-A-Bed - Compact Bed Frame. That bed frame did end up being rather nice - solid wood and well designed together. The problem was, though, through the futon I could feel every single slate digging into my back. I tried putting a cardboard sheet in between, but that wasn't particularly helpful. After a while I've despaired and just put futon on the floor and slept like that. Which was still not 100% comfortable, and just a tad bit too hard. But I really wanted to have an actual bed and didn't really want to buy a new one.This is where this tatami mat came in, between futon and the bed. It quite literally transformed my sleeping experience. There is more give to it than the floor, so pressure on the back is no longer uncomfortable. But at the same time it doesn't compromise rigidity and support. Everything is absolutely perfect now. I actually tried adding memory foam topper, but it ended up being completely unnecessary and redundant.Tatami itself is extremely well made. The top of it is almost silky to the touch, and it seems quite durable, too.When it arrived, the earthly almost rotting smell was extremely strong and quite unpleasant. Thankfully, most of it was confined to the box, so once unpacked it was bearable. I didn't notice it for the most part afterwards, except an occasional whiff every once in a while. After a week even that was gone.One thing I would say as a fault, though, is the dimensions. Considering there is only one futon and one tatami manufacturer in US, one would think that there would be some coordination in regards to how big they are. As such, futon is couple of inches bigger, so sides are left hanging. Not that big of a deal, just seems a bit weird.

Shows some of the gaps and defects in the grass topping around the corners others have reported, but they aren't really noticeable and shouldn't reduce longevity. While I haven't smelled a tatami mat before, the scent isn't unpleasant or moldy and my girlfriend (the primary user) finds it nice, so I assume it is as it should be. Still, there weren't any precautions taken to ensure that the mat would come without mold. It came packed in normal cardboard with no moisture/humidity barrier or desiccants whatsoever, so I would have received a disgusting mess had it not been a particularly hot and dry period while it was in transit. Plastic wrap and some silica packets would cost next to nothing and would have prevented every bad review this product received.

I spent a lot of time in old houses in Japan and wanted to tatami-fy my room when I came back. First, I looked at tatami made in Kyoto by the real artisans. A real made-in-Japan tatami mat of equivalent size, hand-woven by artisans, costs more$1,000 per mat (and that excludes shipping costs). An American bedroom is usually more than 4 mats (usually 6-8 mats large), so it's very expensive to completely "tatami-fy" a bedroom. At $179, this "cheaper" version is not a bad substitute (and that price includes Amazon 2-day Prime shipping). It smells authentic (sweet tatami smell), feels authentic (firm yet slightly springy), and the stitching looks fine, although if you have kids or pets, or do any rough-and-tumble stuff on it, it will come apart, no surprise. This arrived safely and was well-packaged. It is very heavy and bulky (6 feet by 3 feet) so it helps to have 2 people move a single tatami mat around. I could not see where it is made on the packaging, I presume Taiwan or mainland China. However, few people in Japan can really afford artisan-price tatami anymore, and I'm sure their tatami is also made in Taiwan or mainland China, so I'm not crying. My only wish is that they should also offer it in different fabric borders. This one is a plain black canvas. In Japan you can custom-order your fabric border in different brocade patterns and colors (traditionally, of course, "commoners" were prohibited from using such patterns, which were reserved for temples and aristocrats).