Things I learned today:
- There are at least three different standard sizes of tatami
- The type made in the Nagoya area is called ainoma and is .91 x 1.82 meters (a little under 3 x 6 feet)
- When it comes to laying out the tatami, there are auspicious and inauspicious layouts
- Types of auspicious layouts include ones where the junctions of the tatami form a T shape, and ones where the layout resembles a backwards swastika (a Buddhist symbol)
- Types of inauspicious layouts include ones where the junctions of the tatami form a + shape, ones that are grid-like, and ones that have a bisecting line
- Tatami should not be laid so that a door opens on a junction between two tatami or on the short end of one tatami
- Shops and teahouses traditionally use layouts with 5 1/2 tatami
- If there is such a thing as a standard size for ofuro, no one mentioned it on the internet
- Ofuro are really really expensive (we’re talking in the thousands here)
- Drawing a blueprint for a house in a country you’ve never visited is difficult and frustrating
- Any and all of these things may be completely wrong since all I did was Google a lot and some of the articles and images contradicted each other
- Except for the one about drawing blueprints
