The price of futon

Hi all,

I am almost 21, will be 24ish when I get to Japan and will hold a BS in Ceramic ENGR and a BFA with a ceramic concentration.

I am about three years away from my year long trip to Japan to teach English, either through JET or someone else, and am starting to save up money for expenses. The thing I am really thinking about though is the futon because I want to bring it back to the States. So, the meat of the matter is: How much should I expect to pay for a new futon set, a good one?

Also, what are the typical fillings?

P.S.: This trip will hopefully soothe my obsession with Japan because I don't think I can differ my grad school admission for more than a year!

I would expect to pay around 5000 yen for a good quality, single size, wool mattress and around 10000-15000 for a down comforter and a set of sheets. For example, check out Nitori which has reasonable prices on good quality futon, and can be found pretty much all over Japan.

http://www.nitori.co.jp/

Thank you! Do you have a recommended filling to look for in the bottom part of the futon or will anything do?

I prefer wool or wool blends. Also available (in order of decreasing cost) are polyester and open cell foam. I was checking on the Nitori site and they sell wool/polyester blends and 100% polyester for the bottom futon. But I also remember seeing open cell foam futon the last time I was there.

http://www.nitori.co.jp/en/interior_knowledge/category/index01.html

That settles that! Thanks for the help!