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Jun 7, 2022

Mattress Question

Hello: I will be in Otaru (Hokkaido) Japan starting this fall teaching at a university. I will be staying at the university and there is a room there for me. I require a firm mattress for sleeping, and, while the room will be furnished with a bed and mattress, I am not sure if it will be firm enough for me. I was wondering if anyone knew if there were furniture stores in Otaru that would have a mattress for me to purchase (if the one that is provided is not firm enough)? And, if one does, how long it would take to pick up or have delivered (a few days? weeks?) I will be staying five months and wish to make my time in Japan as comfortable as possible. I am 6 foot, 2 and half inches. Thanks in advance for any advice.

5 Answers



  • genkidesu

    on Jun 7

    I recommend checking at Nitori -- there's a store in Otaru: https://shop.nitori-net.jp/nitori/spot/detail?code=0000000271 We had a mattress from there a few years ago that was so firm we actually ended up selling it and getting a different one because it was too firm. My only concern is that you're 6'2", you might struggle with the length of some mattresses. My husband is around 6'0" and he's right on the upper echelons of things here. I'm not sure what country you're coming from, but in my experience, all mattresses here are much, much firmer than what I'm used to back home...so hopefully you'll be lucky and the one they supply you with might already fit the bill. Best of luck!

    2
  • SalarymanJim

    on Jun 7

    I'll second genkidesu on how firm the mattresses are over here so I think there's a good chance of the mattress provided being suitable anyway. My partner and I bought a bed and mattress from Nittori and are still very pleased with it but as I remember we did have to wait at least a couple of weeks for it to be delivered. That was a whole bed though. I would have thought a mattress could be delivered in few days. Here's the mattress lineup in Nittori: https://www.nitori-net.jp/ec/cat/Mattress/

    1
  • JapanRamen

    on Jul 20

    I'll third what has been said so far. The problem with shopping online is the exact problem, and I've fallen for that issue twice. Nitori has a good selection of different firmness, and only there I have found one firm enough for my back. Hope that will work out for you too!

    1
  • KGT

    on Jul 21

    Thanks to all who answered my question. I was told that the mattress in my room was "so-so." I was also told that beds in Asia tended to be much harder than in the USA. A generalization, for sure. But if true, it should be fine. I was also told that some people buy a mattress topper, because the beds are very hard.

    0
  • genkidesu

    on Jul 22

    @KGT Yes, hopefully the generalization is true in your case! If you have any other questions along the way be sure to reach out on here, there's usually someone who can help point you in the right direction.

    0

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