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Intermediate Japanese - Free Online Course
FUTOKORO-GATANA
懐刀
dagger
Futokoro means “busom” or “chest;” and katana means “sword.” A futogokoro-gatana is therefore a knife or a dagger that a person might keep close to his chest for personal protection. Daggers were also carried by the samurai, who used them for ritual suicide, or seppuku 切腹.
Today Japan is a safe country where such precautions are usually unnecessary. However, futokoro-gatana has an important metaphorical usage. It refers to a “right-hand man” or a confidant.
FUTON
布団
Japanese-style bedding
Futons have become popular outside Japan in recent years, so most readers will have at least some idea of what they are. Traditional Japanese bedding is placed on the floor in a tatami room. The bedding is stored away during the day, so that the room can be used for purposes other than sleeping during daylight hours.
Futon is a general term for bedding. It is comprised of individual pieces: shikbuton (mattress), shikifu (sheet), kakebuton (quilt) and makura (pillow). In very cold weather, a kaimaki, or sleeved quilt may also be used.
Just as futon have found a following in the West, Western-style beds have become more popular in Japan. Many Japanese households no longer have tatami rooms or use futon, opting instead to sleep on Western-style beds.