A ‘Futon’ Is Not the Same as a Futon

Published in The Sankei News
(Japan) on 7 September 2021
by Nagahisa Shiobara (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Eric Stimson. Edited by Gillian Palmer.
The other day, I got rid of the “futon” I’d used for sleeping in my home office. The word "futon” is derived from the Japanese futon. For the last few days, I’ve been bitten by ticks, and when I noticed that ticks had nested in the open seam of a “futon” I’d used for many years, I reluctantly decided to throw it out.

First of all, American-style “futons” do not resemble what Japanese people call a futon. Combined simple beds and sofas are sold as “futons.” The back of the sofa collapses, forming a bed.

As a product, it seems to be regarded as easy to use in small rooms like a student’s dorm. But as a simple bed, the sofa back part sticks out, so it’s not great for sleeping. That means that if “futons” are introduced to Americans as part of Japanese culture and as the item that Japanese people sleep on, Americans might regard us with pity. They might say that theJapanese people sure sleep on basic beds!

Afterward, I got a new “futon” — and there’s more to the story. Around Washington, D.C., where I live, an increase in ticks has been reported everywhere. This summer, the tick population on the East Cost of the U.S. erupted as they ate the eggs of the cicadas that emerged in huge numbers. The ticks kept biting people outside. Maybe my “futon” wasn’t to blame for my bug bites, but who knows now that I’ve thrown it away?


先日、自宅の仕事部屋で寝具として使ってきた「FUTON(フトン)」を廃棄した。FUTONは日本の布団が由来とされる。このところ連日、ダニに刺される被害が続いたため、長年の使用でほころびが目立つFUTONにダニが住み着いたとにらみ、泣く泣く捨てることにしたのだ。

もっとも、米国式のFUTONは、日本人がイメージする布団とは似ても似つかない。およそ簡易ベッド兼ソファをFUTONと呼び、売っている。ソファの可動式の背もたれを倒すとベッドになる仕組みだ。

学生寮のような狭い部屋で使い勝手が良く、商品として定着したようだ。ただ、簡易ベッドとしては、背もたれ部分に段差が生じたりする代物で、決して寝心地は良くない。そのため、米国人に「日本人はフトンで寝ます」などと日本文化を紹介しようものなら、「日本の人々は粗末な寝具で寝るのだな」と哀れむ目でみられかねない。

その後、FUTONを新調したのだが、後日談がある。居住地の首都ワシントン近郊でダニ被害の増加が各所で報告されたのだ。米紙によると、今夏、米東部で大量発生したセミの卵を食べるダニが急増。屋外で刺される人が続出した。私の虫刺されでFUTONに罪はなかったのかもしれないが、廃棄した今となっては知る由もない。
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