Value Village / Everyday know-how
This answer is a draft. It stays unpublished until legal review and source verification are complete.
Tatami is usually described as flooring. It behaves more like a large, replaceable furnishing — and its size is not even fixed.
| Name | Dimensions | Area | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kyōma | 955 × 1910 mm | 1.824 m² | Kansai, Shikoku, Chūgoku, Kyūshū |
| Chūkyōma | 910 × 1820 mm | 1.656 m² | Nagoya region |
| Edoma | 880 × 1760 mm | 1.549 m² | Kantō and north |
| Danchima | 850 × 1700 mm | 1.445 m² | Apartment blocks (post-1950s public housing) |
Room sizes are still commonly quoted in mats. The same "six-mat room" can differ by up to 26% in floor area depending on the region — which is why square-metre figures are recommended alongside.
[Verify] Dimensions from tatami industry references; the standard JIS A 5901 recognises multiple sizes. Confirm before publication.
Mats are laid in, not fixed down. They can be lifted, turned and replaced individually.
It is swept and wiped along the grain, and kept dry. Water is the thing to avoid, not cleaning.
Point loads leave marks. Pads under legs are the usual answer.
See the table. Moving from Osaka to Tokyo, your furniture may not fit the same "six-mat" room.
Fewer homes are entirely tatami, but single tatami rooms remain common, and thin mat products are sold for other floors. It changed form rather than vanished.
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https://www.mlit.go.jp/jutakukentiku/
https://tatamizuki.com/article/tatami-size-2/
⚠️ Editorial note: the source URLs above were identified by search. Our working environment cannot reach go.jp domains, so the contents have not been checked against the text. Verify every source before publication and record who checked it and when.
What we share here are ideas and everyday practices passed down among people living in Japan, together with general information drawn from public sources. They are not official recommendations, and they are not professional instruction. Practices vary between households and regions.
This is general information. Results vary from person to person and depend on your own conditions and surroundings.
Please decide for yourself, using your own judgement, whether any of this suits your situation. We cannot accept responsibility for any damage, loss or injury arising from following this article.
If you rent your home, check with your landlord before making any changes. Never mix cleaning products.
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