Protected local food
Kumamoto Igusa Tatami Omote
くまもと県産い草畳表
The woven rush surface of a tatami mat, made from local igusa that is grown, dyed and woven around Yatsushiro in Kumamoto, Japan's leading tatami area.
Key facts
- Registered as a protected name
- 2 February 2016
- Region
- Kyushu & Okinawa
- Official name in Japanese
- くまもと県産い草畳表
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 熊本県八代市、熊本県八代郡氷川町、熊本県宇城市
The top of a tatami mat
A tatami mat has a firm core covered by the omote, a woven sheet of rush. Kumamoto tatami omote is woven from mud-dyed Kumamoto igusa cut to even lengths, so the colour and feel are uniform across the whole mat.
Field to loom
Farmers here handle every step themselves, from growing the rush to processing and weaving it. That way of working became a local industry, and by 1970 Yatsushiro and its neighbours in Kumamoto were Japan's top producer of tatami facing.
Good to know
- Many ryokan rooms and temples in Japan have tatami floors. Take your shoes off before stepping on them.
- See Kumamoto Igusa for the rush itself and how it is mud-dyed.
Questions travellers ask
What is tatami omote?
The woven rush cover on the top of a tatami mat. It is replaced every few years while the core is reused.
Is this a food?
No. It is one of the non-food products in Japan's GI register.
Where it comes from
More protected foods from the same area
Crafts from the same area
Heritage stories from the same area
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.