Futon floor

When people come over to my house, I often hear the same three remarks: I have the softest toilet paper; I have the best snacks from back home; and my place has that “lived-in” feeling.

This is the first time I’ve actually lived on my own, so I’ve fully embraced the fact that I can decorate this place however I’d like. Over the past year, I’ve added a purple rug under my kotatsu table. There are two television sets tucked in the corner of my living room. Four plastic chests of drawers are filled with my haphazardly folded clothes and toiletries. Four wooden bookcases are cluttered with books and other things that I don’t feel like organizing. And I have a metal rack bearing heaps of my clothes, which no longer fit in my closet. (Don’t open my living room closet! It’s filled to the top with futons and boxes of junk).

But the piece de resistance of my place has to be “futon floor.” It comes out once in a blue moon. Futon floor emerges after someone covers their entire floor in futons. That’s it. It sounds simple enough, but there’s nothing like sprawling out on futons while being cocooned in my favourite duvet. At my place, futon floor is key when I have a movie night or slumber party. I also set out futon floor when I’m feeling lazy or ill.

The last time I had futon floor at the Pretty in Pink Palace, I had three friends who had slept over after a night of partying in Koriyama. We spent the morning making tough decisions: whether to enjoy a light brunch at Marumatsu or the Tomato Onion Restaurant.

When I took a peek from my patio door overlooking the parking lot, I noticed two of my students were walking by with the city hall’s monthly newsletter. They were en route to drop them in my apartment building’s mailboxes. I called them over, and introduced them to my friends. So, Te-kun was given the opportunity to poke his head through my patio door to see my friends seated on my futon floor. I wonder what he thought of my place. And if he told his father, who happens to be my landlord, that I live in such chaos! Te-kun’s little brother also ran over, his mouth slightly ajar as he caught a glimpse of my friends (more foreigners!) and futon floor.