A touch of traditional Japanese interior luxury for the true lord of your manor.
A lot of the materials used in a traditional Japanese home interior, like wood and paper, aren’t a good mix with having a pet cat, seeing as how they’re the sort of things that can easily be damaged or destroyed by kitty claws or that fabled feline curiosity. But what if you had a piece of old-school Japanese home décor that’s specifically made for your cat to enjoy how it pleases?
That’s the concept represented by the Oneko-sama Senyo Mini Tatami.
OK, so there’s a bit of Japanese linguistics to unpack in that name. Neko is the Japanese word for “cat,” with o being an exalting prefix along the lines of “honorable.” -sama is an even more polite version of the -san that gets put at the end of people’s names in polite conversation, and senyo translates to “exclusive use.” Put it all together, and the Oneko-sama Senyo Mini Tatami means something along the lines of “Mini Tatami for the Exclusive Use of their Honorable Lordships, the Cats.” They’re scaled-down versions of the tatami reed floormats found in traditional Japanese homes, handcrafted by tatami artisans in Kumamoto Prefecture.
The for-cats tatami are 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) long, and their primary intended purpose is as scratching pads, with the grooves in between the woven reeds providing a texture that will help your kitty file down its claws and relieve stress. Of course, the tatami’s designers realize that cats aren’t always bound by “intended” uses, so they point out that because tatami’s natural material tends to keep the mats cool in summer and warm in winter, the Oneko-sama Senyo Mini Tatam also makes a great spot for your cat to lounge or nap all year round. The mats are fitted with non-slip undersides, to keep them from sliding and providing unsure footing as your cat hops on, and the designers also suggest putting it near the base of your cat tree if you have one to provide a landing spot that’s gentler on your cat’s joints than tile or hardwood when they jump down.
▼ “Cat dreaming on the tatami!”
The attention to detail is impressive, with each mat properly equipped with cloth borders resembling the ones used on for-human tatami.
And with the reeds grown and the mats woven in Kumamoto, there’s even a special-border version that features Kumamon, the prefecture’s lovable black bear mascot character.
The Oneko-sama Senyo Mini Tatami are being offered through traditional crafts online store Nihont, with single mats priced at 6,600 yen (US$44) here and the special three-mat-set Kumamon version for 22,000 here.
Source: PR Times via Japaaan
Top image: PR Times
Insert images: Nihont (1, 2), PR Times
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