zabuton

File:Rakugo-sanmafestival.jpg performance]]

Zabuton are typically packed with cotton for cushioning, with an outer cover made of fabric, usually also cotton. The outer cover is sometimes alternatively made of a variety of other materials such as silk, linen, leather, or washi. Zabuton were commonly made using meisen until the 1960s when meisen production ceased.{{cite journal |last1=Iwamoto Wada |first1=Yoshiko |last2=Arai |first2=Masanao |title=Kimono Mode and Marketing: Popular Textiles for Women in Early Twentieth Century Japan |journal=Research Journal of Textile and Apparel |date=February 2011 |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=108–123 |doi=10.1108/RJTA-15-01-2011-B012 }}

The zabuton originates from an earlier type of cushion called a shitone ({{langx|ja|褥|lit=|links=no}}), used in early Japan by the aristocratic class.{{Cite report |last1=Matsumoto |first1=Eleanor |last2=Fujii |first2=Jeanne H. |date=February 1955 |title=Make a modern zabuton |hdl=10125/58724 }} A shitone is roughly the same size and shape as a zabuton, but consists of layers of straw matting covered with cloth as opposed to the cotton-filled zabuton.{{rp|153}} One traditional method of making a zabuton involves layered cotton stuffing laid on top of a square piece of fabric, folded in half with two sides stitched closed. The bundle is then rolled and then turned inside out so that the stuffing is inside the fabric, rather than stuffing the fabric into an opening in the cloth.

Prior to the introduction of zabuton, enza ({{langx|ja|円座|lit=round seats|links=no}}) were commonly used as cushioning on wooden floors. These were circular, plaited grass cushions that were gradually replaced in everyday usage by the shitone and zabuton during the Edo period (1600–1868){{Cite book |last1=Koizumi |first1=Kazuko |title=Traditional Japanese furniture |last2=小泉 |first2=和子 |date=1986 |publisher=Kodansha International |isbn=0-87011-722-X |edition=1st |location=Tokyo |page=99 |oclc=13092659}} after cotton was introduced to Japan.{{Cite book |last=Hanley |first=Susan B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=07cwDwAAQBAJ&dq=zabuton+kamakura&pg=PA95 |title=Everyday Things in Premodern Japan: The Hidden Legacy of Material Culture |date=1999-06-08 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-21812-3 |page=95 |access-date=2023-01-10 |archive-date=2023-01-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230110040706/https://books.google.com/books?id=07cwDwAAQBAJ&dq=zabuton+kamakura&pg=PA95 |url-status=live }}

File:Sumo_box_seat.jpg

Japanese culture has societal norms and etiquette around zabuton, including the proper way to accept a zabuton and the correct way to sit or rise from one,{{cite journal |last1=Hamabata |first1=Matthews Masayuki |title=Ethnographic boundaries: Culture, class, and sexuality in Tokyo |journal=Qualitative Sociology |date=1986 |volume=9 |issue=4 |pages=354–371 |doi=10.1007/BF00988464 }} and how to bow when seated on one.{{Cite book |last=Hamabata |first=Matthews Masayuki |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=um8TXHVmrWUC&dq=%22Zabuton%22&pg=PR8 |title=Crested kimono: power and love in the Japanese business family |date=1991 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=9780801499753 |location=Ithaca, N.Y. |page=12 |oclc=1285463729 |access-date=2023-01-10 |archive-date=2023-01-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230110040711/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Crested_Kimono/um8TXHVmrWUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Zabuton%22&pg=PR8&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }} The placement of a person's zabuton in a room can indicate that person's position in a social hierarchy{{cite journal |last1=Mikuni |first1=Makiko |title=My perception of Japanese-style basic encounter groups ~ learning from facilitating encounter groups~ |journal=Person-Centered & Experiential Psychotherapies |date=3 July 2022 |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=207–219 |doi=10.1080/14779757.2021.1938185 }} or a position of honor.{{cite journal |last1=Traphagan |first1=John W. |title=Heroes of the Antimodern: 'Respect for the Elderly Day' and Writing the Narrative of the Elder Generation in Japan |journal=Journal of Ritual Studies |date=2005 |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=99–113 |jstor=44368741 }}

In Zen meditation, practitioners sit on a zafu, which is typically placed on top of a zabuton. The zabuton serves to cushion the knees and ankles while the zafu supports and cushions the rest of the body. This combination of zabuton and zafu is used to support the body during long periods of meditation,{{Cite book |last=Bell |first=Charlotte |title=Yoga for Meditators: Poses to Support Your Sitting Practice |date=2016 |publisher=Shambhala Publications |isbn=978-1-930485-78-5 |pages=30}} especially for those who are unaccustomed to being in the seiza position for long periods of time.{{Cite book |last=Buksbazen |first=John Daishin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p1mJ8nxW8TwC&dq=zabuton+meditation+long+periods&pg=PA30 |title=Zen meditation in plain English |date=2002 |publisher=Wisdom |isbn=0-86171-316-8 |edition=1st |location=Boston |page=31 |oclc=48588920 |access-date=2023-01-10 |archive-date=2023-01-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230110040746/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Zen_Meditation_in_Plain_English/p1mJ8nxW8TwC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=zabuton+meditation+long+periods&pg=PA30&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}

In sumo, members of the audience throw zabuton toward the ring after a yokozuna is defeated by a lower-ranked wrestler, as a way of heckling the defeated wrestler{{cite journal |last1=Kádár |first1=Dániel Z. |last2=Ran |first2=Yongping |title=Ritual in intercultural contact: A metapragmatic case study of heckling |journal=Journal of Pragmatics |date=February 2015 |volume=77 |pages=41–55 |doi=10.1016/j.pragma.2014.12.011 }} in a practice called Zabuton-wo-nageru ({{langx|ja|座布団を投げる|lit=throwing zabuton cushions|links=no}}).{{rp|44}} Throwing zabuton in this fashion has risks, including the potential for causing personal injury and damage to property.{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/3227869/Japan-bans-cushion-throwing-at-sumo-tournament.html|title=Japan bans cushion throwing at sumo tournament|first=Julian|last=Ryall|location=Tokyo|work=The Telegraph|date=20 October 2008|access-date=10 January 2023|archive-date=15 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191015032053/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/3227869/Japan-bans-cushion-throwing-at-sumo-tournament.html|url-status=live}}

In yose, notably on the long-running television show Shōten, comedians receive zabuton as a form of scoring, which are also taken away as punishment for bad jokes. The first comedian on Shōten to receive ten zabuton is declared the winner.{{Cite magazine |title=Japan: Shoten ("Jokes for Points") |magazine=Time |url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1971133_1971222_1971225,00.html |url-status=live |access-date=December 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161109042100/https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1971133_1971222_1971225,00.html |archive-date=November 9, 2016}} Zabuton are used in rakugo by both the performer and the audience.{{cite book |last1=Brau |first1=Lorie |title=Rakugo: Performing Comedy and Cultural Heritage in Contemporary Tokyo |date=2008 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-1-4616-3410-2 |pages=18–21 |oclc=1100872013 }} Before adopting Western-style chairs in the 1930s, Japanese movie theatres used zabuton for patron seating.{{cite journal |last1=Fujioka |first1=Atsuhiro |last2=Hitchcock |first2=Lori |title=Function and Form in the Early Period of the Nyūsu eigakan (News Movie Theater) |journal=Iconics |date=2004 |volume=7 |pages=113–132 |doi=10.18917/iconics.7.0_113 }}

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Category:Portable furniture