THE futon may be the back's best friend. But in Hongkong, life with Japan's venerable mattress can often be a pain in the neck.
The daily airing, a ritual in Japan, is nearly impossible here due to the weight. ''They're too heavy,'' complained one futon devotee. ''It takes two of us just to lift the damn thing.'' No surprise. Futons sold in Hongkong are different than the traditional Japanese ones. The Western version is a cotton-filled mattress, imported from the United States, or locally-made. Importing them from Japan is too expensive, according to retailers.
The futon in Japan is a two-piece bedding system. It features an under-futon (a thin mattress) and an over-futon (a cover of varying weights that you sleep under).
''The futon here is bought as a single mattress. It is three to five inches thick. People keep them on the floor or on a platform,'' says Michelle Tang, owner of Ito Futon. ''No one rolls them up like they do in Japan.'' Eighty per cent of Ms Tang's business is from expats. ''Occasionally, I'll get a Chinese yuppie who has lived abroad. Or a Japanese married to an expat.'' Just because you grew up on one, says one Japanese businessman, doesn't mean you want to sleep on one for the rest of your life.
''Modern people in Japan would rather sleep in a Western bed,'' explains Yoshiya Kasahara. The operations manager for Seibu believes futons are more practical in Japan. ''You air them out daily, roll them up and store them. But here, that's difficult.'' Dale Keller remembers that daily ritual. ''After you air them out, they smell like the outdoors,'' recalls the designer and head of Dale Keller & Associates Ltd.
When Keller and his wife Pat began their careers, courtship and family life in Japan, they literally lived on futons, and the floor, for years. Their backs liked the firmness.