Important Note: To truly understand why our Traditional Japanese Futon are better than anything else available on the market, we highly recommend that you check out our Futon Buying Guide here.
Below are a list of frequently asked questions that we're hoping will answer any questions you may have about our futon (and other products we sell), FutonBedsFromJapan.com, or our Customer Service. If you don't find your answer here, we highly encourage you to contact us here. We look forward to hearing from you.
- Why Authentic Japanese Futons are Superior to all others on the Market
- What Exactly Do I Get When I Order a Futon from FutonBedsFromJapan.com?
- Futon Sizes, & Configurations
- Pricing
- How to Get a Price Quote on a Custom Sized Futon
- Shipping & Delivery
- Payment Methods, Sales Tax & Additional Charges
- Futon Use as a Guest Bed or Day Bed
- Futon Care & Storage. "Do I Need to Flip and Rotate My futon?"
- Privacy & Security (Terms and Conditions)
- Returns & Replacements
- How can I view the status of my order?
- Do your futon meet USA Fire Safety Regulations
- Uh . . . What's that smell?
WHY AUTHENTIC JAPANESE FUTON ARE SUPERIOR TO ALL OTHERS ON THE MARKET
All of our futon are hand-made by a family-owned business ran by a master of the craft of futon production. Not only has Futon Master Ikeuchi been making futon his entire adult life—that is over 55 years of experience in the craft—but he also comes from generations of futon masters who have passed down their "trade secrets."
The futon we sell are made in Japan in the same way they've been made for generations. However, there is a one important difference in how futon are manufactured for the Western market. The reality is—sumo wrestlers aside—on average Westerners are simply larger/heavier than the average Japanese person. Because of this, our futon made for the Western market are made with some additional cotton filling. However, aside from this added cotton and some larger sized shikibuton (such as the Queen and King sizes), these futon are no different than those sold here in Japan.
WHAT EXACTLY DO I GET WHEN I ORDER A FUTON FROM FUTONBEDSFROMJAPAN.COM?
Traditionally, futon come as a set: The shikibuton (/she•key boo•tone/ bottom "mattress") and the kakebuton (/ka•kay boo•tone/ top "quilt") You can purchase our futon as a set (shikibuton and kakebuton / "mattress" & "quilt") or separately if you just wanted the shikibuton ("mattress").
All of our futon are made with a high thread-count premium quality, 100% cotton, traditional pattern-printed outer material with 100% Grade A cotton inside. The cotton we use is recognized by Futon Masters across Japan as the premium cotton for futon.
Please check out our care instructions here .
Our futon come in four standard sizes. See our size chart below.
FUTON SIZES & CONFIGURATIONS
Our futon come in four standard sizes. (However you can order them custom sized for a small additional up-charge.)
Futon Sizes and Weights
| SIZE: | "MATTRESS" (BOTTOM) | "QUILT" (TOP) | DIMENSIONS | WEIGHT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single | shikibuton (bottom) | ~35" x ~78-3/4" x ~4-1/2" inches | 90cm x 200cm x 12cm | (Filling weight 11.25 lbs | 5.1kg) |
| kakebuton (top) | ~55" x ~78-3/4" inches | 140cm x 200cm | (Filling Weight 6.17 lbs | 2.8kg) | |
| Double | shikibuton (bottom) | ~47-1/4" x ~78-3/4" x ~4-1/2" inches | 120cm x 200cm x 12cm | (filling weight 15 lbs | 6.8kg) |
| kakebuton (top) | ~67" x ~78-3/4" inches | 170cm x 200cm | (filling weight 8.37 lbs | 3.8kg) | |
| Queen | shikibuton (bottom) | ~59" x ~78-3/4" x ~4-1/2" inches | 150cm x 200cm x 12cm | (filling weight 18.7 lbs | 8.5kg) |
| kakebuton (top) | ~78-3/4" x ~78-3/4" inches | 200cm x 200cm | (filling weight 8.7 lbs | 4.4kg) | |
| King | shikibuton (bottom) | ~70-3/4" x ~78-3/4" x ~4-1/2" inches | 180cm x 200cm x 12cm | (filling weight 22.25 lbs | 10.1kg) |
| kakebuton (top) | ~90-1/2" x ~78-3/4" inches | 230cm x 200cm | (filling weight 11 lbs | 5.0 kg) | |
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* Note: The size designations of "single," "queen," etc. are not the same dimensions as those in the U.S. Please make sure you take special note of the dimensions to make sure they're a good fit for you and you're not surprised when your futon arrives. It might be helpful to use a tape measure and fold out a flat bed sheet to the dimensions of the futon you intend to buy. This will help you visualize the size much more accurately. IMPORTANT: Especially when your futon first arrives it will likely be a little smaller than the dimensions shown above. During the vacuum-packing and shipping process your futon gets compressed and shrinks roughly as much as 10 cm (about 4 inches). However, after hanging and regular use, your futon will fairly quickly return to the original manufactured dimensions. Also, to correctly measure your futon, due to the construction of traditional futon, the sides tend to curve in at the center, so you can only correctly measure it from the corners. Please view this brief video for more information information on this: How to Correctly Measure Your Futon |
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PRICING
CUSTOM SIZED ORDERS
Information we will need when quoting a custom futon or futon set.
- Description: Shikibuton (mattress) or Shikibuton/Kakebuton Set (mattress & quilt)
- Dimensions: Width (W) x Length (L) x 12cm*
- Style: Fabric Pattern Choice
- Ship To: Country and postal code it will ship to
- Protection & Convenience: If you want custom covers made as well. (Highly recommended)
* Note: Lead times: Please refer to your custom quote for current production lead times.
Important Note: All orders are subject to a 5-8 centimeters (about 2-4 inch) variance.
Although your custom futon will be made exactly to the dimensions you specify, it has been our experience that the vacuum packing and shipping process causes some shrinkage. How much? It tends to vary. It is our experience that over time after hanging the futon and also through use, the fabric relaxes again and returns to the original manufactured size. That said, please allow for a 5-8 cm (about 3 inch) tolerance.
*All of our futon mattresses are 12cm (about 4.5 inches) thick.)
SHIPPING & DELIVERY
Order delivery lead times can vary greatly at certain times and seasons. Please view the current lead times in the scrolling text in the orange bar at the top of our website. Futon are shipped from Japan via air mail, then once they arrive in your country, they're shipped by various local services depending upon the country (usually UPS or Fedex) that are contracted for this service. Typical lead times (from order placed to arrival at your door) are generally 12 -15 work days or less, but can extend to much longer, so please check the scrolling text at the top of our website for current lead times. (Note: By "work days" we mean that weekends are not counted.) Futon come vacuum-packed, wrapped in strong, poly-lined kraft shipping paper and poly-strapped. The vacuum-pack bag can later be re-used for long-term storage of your futon.
FutonBedsFromJapan.com pays freight/delivery costs to your shipping location when you buy from us.
NOTE: Orders delivered to countries other than the USA will very likely be charged Import Duty Fees and/or VAT taxes (if in the EU). These charges vary based on each country and are very much out of our control. (They tend to range between 21%-32%) Please check the website for the Customs Department in your country for more information on this. Currently USA customers can expect to pay around 15% of the invoice total in Import fees.
UK, Australia, New Zealand, India, Middle East (except Israel is okay), Singapore & Malaysia Deliveries: Due to product licensing conflicts, we can not ship to these countries at all. Please contact us for distributor's websites that service these countries.
PAYMENT METHODS, SALES TAX & ADDITIONAL CHARGES
We currently accept these forms of payment:
PayPal, Visa, Mastercard and Discover, Direct Cash Deposits to our banking account, as well as BitCoin Cash (When you choose "Other than Credit Card" option in the shopping cart, we'll contact you with the necessary details.)
Click Here Now to Create Your PayPal Account
Sales Tax and Import Fees: Currently orders delivered to the USA will be charged a 15% tariff by The US Customs Department. However, orders delivered to countries other then the USA will be charged Import Duty Fees and/or VAT (sales tax) by your Customs Department. The amount of these charges vary based on each country and are very much out of our control. We do not pay these fees and you are responsible for them. Please check the website of your country's Customs Department for more information on this.
All Pricing on our website includes shipping! (That said, please contact us if you live in an extremely remote location so we can check shipping availability and costs.)
FUTON USE AS A GUEST BED OR DAY BED
I just want to use my futon as an extra bed for guests or a daybed; is this a good option?
First, we recommend you watch this short video that directly covers this topic.
Perfect! Traditionally futon are brought out at night and then stowed away in the morning so the room could be used for other purposes. (This still happens in many Japanese households.) So futon are also an excellent solution for occasional bedding when guests show up and spend the night. They're quick and easy to lay out and your guests will enjoy a comfortable night of sleep!
See the Futon Care and Storage section below to see how simple and convenient futons can be as occasional bedding.
FUTON CARE & STORAGE
Can my futon be conveniently stored away when I don't need it?
Definitely! Traditionally futon are brought out at night and then stowed away in the morning so the room could be used for other purposes. (This still happens in many Japanese households.)
Our futon can be rolled or folded up quickly (the Japanese fold them), and are light enough to be easily packed away in the bottom of a linen closet.
For long-term storage, you can even re-use the vacuum-pack it was sent in. (If you do this, make sure you allow several hours for the cotton filling to "breathe" and fluff-out again. We want your guests to be so enthusiastic about the comfortable night sleep they had that they want to order one of our futon for themselves!)
Futon Care
Watch this short video to see how simple and easy it is to care for your futon: How to Care for Your Futon
Care of your futon is quite simple. If you're sleeping on your futon nightly then do as the Japanese do: Airing and sunning your futon outside is essential for maintaining it's—and your health.
The UV rays and warmth from natural sunlight kill those microscopic bedbugs, mold and mildew that are known to haunt Western style mattresses. So Japanese futon are fantastic because they are light-weight and can easily be hung out over clothes-lines, balcony railings or laundry poles using our futon clips we provide at no additional charge with your order.
By regularly hanging your futon outside for 2-4 hours (about weekly in the summer and once a month in winter—more often if sweating is an issue!), you are allowing the cotton to "breathe" and fully dry which prevents mold, keeps the cotton in your futon healthy and comfortable by preventing matting. From time to time, you can also beat your futon while hanging them to remove dust and flaked skin. Badminton racquets work great for this! (Poor futon . . . all this talk of "hanging" and "beating" them! ;) But don't worry, they can take it... but no need to get carried away with this.)
If you're only using your futon occasionally as a guest bed, care for your futon is the same except you don't need to hang it out as often. It your futon gets stored for long periods between uses, however, then make sure you're hanging it out for a few hours to "breathe" and fully dry before you pack it away-- especially if you plan to store it in a vacuum-pack bag.
Futon are also a great bedding choice for chronic allergy sufferers
Do I Need to Flip and Rotate My Futon?
There is a fairly common question or comment we get regularly. “I was reading online and they said that we need to rotate and flip our futon regularly. Is this correct?”
No this is not correct. At least for our authentic Japanese futon this is not required. In fact, for authentic “wabuton” (wa = true/authentic/traditional) like we sell, there is an actual top and bottom of your futon. You will know the top based on two key features. 1) The quilting stitches have the tying side up. 2) The top of the futon arches down at the corners towards the floor. (See image below)
Note: It is our opinion that if a manufacturer is recommending to flip and rotate your futon, it is probably because the cotton quality used in making their futon is poor and they likely have problems with the cotton matting.
PRIVACY & SECURITY (TERMS AND CONDITONS)
Is it safe to purchase using your credit card on the Internet? Absolutely! FutonBedsFromJapan.com uses the latest shopping-cart security technology in our checkout process. Our checkout cart is integrated with PayPal which is extremely secure.
Every year billions of dollars of ecommerce is transacted online and your identity and credit cards are completely secure with today's secure-pay technology such as that used by PayPal.
View our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy
Important Note: If you do not wish to use PayPal this is not a problem as you will find a Guest Checkout option on the PayPal sign-in page which you can use to simply complete your payment using your credit card.
RETURNS & REPLACEMENTS
We will quickly replace a futon if it is damaged in transit or defective in the manufacturing process (our futon are hand-made and thoroughly inspected multiple times before they are shipped, so this would be very unlikely) for the exact same product (same size/pattern, etc.) as was initially ordered. Otherwise we cannot refund or exchange futon. As your futon is hand-made by true futon masters when order is placed, and is shipped all the way from Japan, all sales are final once your order has shipped.
If you have any questions or concerns that you would like to clear up before ordering, please Contact Us here as we look forward to the opportunity to address your concerns and give you any guidance you may need prior to ordering.
HOW CAN I VIEW THE DELIVERY STATUS OF MY ORDER?
At the time you place your order, you will receive an emailed order confirmation with the order details. Once your order has been shipped, you will also receive a separate email with a the shipper's Tracking Number with links or instructions to where and how to track your order every step of the way along it's journey to your front door.
If you are unable to access the information you need with this process, please Contact Us here and we will get back with you in 24 hours or less.
(Typically within just a few hours.)
Note: Please be proactive. Although this has been a very rare occurrence, if your shipment seems to be “stuck” in Customs and is taking more than 3-4 days to be processed, please take action to contact them. It has been our experience that if Customs officials have any sort of question/confusion with your order, it seems that rather than contact you or us, they simply return it to sender (us). Important This is something that is beyond our control and to re-ship it again will be an additional charge.
WILL MY FUTON MEET THE STRICT US FIRE SAFETY REGULATIONS?
Yes our traditional futon meet all US Federal and State Fire Safety Regulations. When faced with the prospect of making sure our Traditional Japanese Futon met the US Federal Safety regulations, we had two very important parameters. 1) The futon look, feel and performance could not be altered in any way. Futon Master Ikeuchi has been making futon for over five decades, has a reputation to protect, and he wasn't about to let his life's work be ruined by any alterations to his futon to meet additional legal regulations. 2) It was also extremely important to us that Absolutely NO Toxic Fire Retardant Chemicals such as Formaldehyde, Boric Acid, Zinc Borate, or fiberglass, etc. would ever be added to our futon. Thus began our long, complex and somewhat expensive quest to find the perfect solution.
We're happy to report that we were able to eventually find what we feel is the solution we were looking for. For futon shipped to USA and Canada, the cotton filling inside is encased in a "sock" of special fabric that works as a flame barrier. Some key features to understand about this fabric is, it works by mechanical action-—not chemical action. (The cotton itself in not coated or treated with any chemicals.) The FR material itself is inert and non-toxic. Basically, there is a fiber thread that runs through the fabric that has a very high melting-point temperature. In the event of a contact with open flame, the rest of the material surrounding the thread melts fairly quickly and the fabric holds the char created by the flame in place. This char acts as a fire barrier preventing the flame from using the cotton inside as fuel. It is fairly high-tech, yet simple solution. We're very enthusiastic about this fabric because it does not change the feel, look or function of the futon in any way.
All that said, we are aware the some of our valued customers feel very strongly about having any man-made material in their bedding at all. If this is you, please contact us here to find out how you can have a futon made without this fire barrier material inside. Note: It has been our experience that email addresses with suffixes such as .aol, .icloud, .(company name) often end up sending our replies to their junk mail/spam folders, or blocking them altogether. If you have a gmail or yahoo mail address it is likely a better option to use. In any event, please check your spam folders for our replies.
MY FUTON SET HAS ARRIVED, AND WHEN I OPENED THE VACUUM BAG IT WAS IN I ENCOUNTERED A STRONG SCENT. WHAT IS IT?
Your futon set is packed in a plastic vacuum bag during transit. Because of this, the futon isn't allowed to "breathe" and the scent of the natural cotton fibers gets very concentrated. When you first open the bag you're sure to notice this distinctive scent. We've discovered that there are basically two kinds of people: 1) Those that love this scent, and 2) Those that don't. If you're in this "camp" don't worry, once the futon is out of the bag simply hang it out for a 24 hours as per our instructions and this scent disappears entirely.