Does Anyone Else Have Tatami That Grows in Their Area?

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BladesB4Firearms

Joined
Oct 13, 2013
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182
This is apparently what tatami mats are made of.



It's known as "soft rush" or "common rush" and it grows EVERYWHERE there is standing water where I live.

I don't know about you, but I'm never buying another mat :D
 
as i understand it, tatami mats are made from rice stalks. stalks, not leaves. if you're looking for a substitute, it must be smooth (no micro-shards of silica).
 
As I understand it, tatami floors are made of rice straw sandwiched between rush, known as omote. The rush OR rice straw are cut, one working just as well as the other apparently.
 
BladesB4Firearms said:
As I understand it, tatami floors are made of rice straw sandwiched between rush, known as omote. The rush OR rice straw are cut, one working just as well as the other apparently.
Click to expand...
Several different types of mats are on the market now and the terms used to describe them are usually less than helpful and are sometimes rather confusing. Always ask what kind of mat and cutting material you are getting before you buy. If you want Traditional Tatami Omote then buy from Mugen Dachi with confidence.

Tatami Mat: refers to a 2 inch thick mat that measures roughly 1 meter by 2 meters, and is used as a special flooring in Japanese homes, shrines, etc.

Tatami Omote: means "tatami exterior" and is any woven mat that is actually USED as the covering on a tatami mat. Beach mats are not tatami omote because they were never designed to be used as the cover on a tatami mat.

Goza: literally means "reed carpet, or mat" and generically refers to any of the woven mats that are made from reeds, grass or straw materials. Tatami omote is goza, so are beach mats, so are some woven placemats, floormats, and window coverings.

Igusa: the common word for juncus effusus, the rush material that is used to make traditional tatami omote. The word "igusa" is also used to describe mats that are made from rush materials.

Wara: means straw.

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Rice straw is readily available in agricultural areas if you know where to look for it. Most rice farmers would gladly give as much of it away as you want for free if you would just haul it away. The biggest problem with rice straw is the silica content. The most common form of silica that everyone is familiar with is sand. Silica is a very abrasive material and the higher the silica content, the faster and easier a metal object coming into contact with it will be dulled or scratched. The farmers who harvest rice have always had a problem with the metal blades of their cutting equipment dulling quickly. Most plants have a small percentage of silica in their tissue. The silica content of rice straw is very high at 14%-18%, while the Soft Rush that is used for tatami omote is fairly low at 3% or less. This particular problem makes rice straw substantially less desirable as a material for making tameshigiri targets.
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Tatami omote is the "face", or cover, on the traditional Japanese tatami mat. It is only about 1/8 of an inch (2-1/2 to 3 millimeters) thick. Tatami omote is graded mostly by the size, quality, and color consistency of the reed material that is used. The mats can also be made with different weave patterns and are then cut to fit the particular foam or rice straw base that will be used. The one feature that all genuine tatami mats have in common is that the covering is made from the plant Juncus Effusus; the common name of the plant is Soft Rush.

^^^From tameshigiri.com

Cheers

GC
 
There is a fellow further on in this film bundling rice straw. The rushes do grow in a lot of areas but tatami are woven, not grown.

[video=youtube;U1cTIVeOqS8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1cTIVeOqS8[/video]

A controversial film from some perspectives but worth watching

Cheers

GC
 
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