Tatami mats in Japanese culture are flooring surfaces to be kept as clean as a bed surface or dining table surface. Nowadays, they are commonly associated with Japanese religious rites and the tea ceremony. Most modern Japanese homes still have at least one tatami room, the washitsu.
Tatami are also used when training Japanese martial arts, such as judo, for protective purposes.
Tatami “omote”, or the outside rush mat layer, wrapped over the rice straw core of the mat, is used in the practice of tameshigiri in Japanese swordsmanship. The tatami omote mats are rolled into cylinders, soaked in water for several days, and then cut in order to test either a newly made sword’s sharpness or a swordsman’s skill.
There are rules concerning the number of tatami mats.
Also, there are rules concerning the layout of the tatami mats in a room. In the Edo period, “auspicious” tatami arrangements and “inauspicious” tatami arrangements were distinctly differentiated, and the tatami accordingly would be rearranged depending on the occasion. Nowadays, the “auspicious” layout is ordinarily used. In this arrangement, the junctions of the tatami form a “T” shape; in the “inauspicious” arrangement, the tatami are in a grid pattern wherein the junctions form a + shape.
An inauspicious layout is said to bring bad fortune. In homes, the mats must not be laid in a grid pattern, and in any layout there is never a point where the corners of three or four mats touch.
Tatami flooring (made of woven straw) is very common in Japan and needs to be taken care of specially. Clean the tatami with a rag. You can choose to use a rag that’s slightly damp with water or use a spray made just for this purpose. The spray helps to prevent mites and mold from infesting your floor. wiki youtube TATAMI MATS