Japanese Futon

I love my bed it so comfortable but since i will be moving soon to Japan. I won't be able to bring it and i'm a little worried about sleeping in a futon. So my question is does the futon fell like you are laying in a mattress or can you feel the floor.

Depends on what kind of "futon" you choose. At home I use a urethane foam thin mattress, then place a "futon" with some cotton core in it. It is like a mattress. I have never used one where I could feel the floor.

As the first poster says, you can purchase futons that are thick enough that you don't feel the floor underneath. I've slept on several futons and always been very comfortable (possibly more comfortable than in my own bed!).

You can also buy a bed frame and put a futon mattress on it. I stack two futon mattresses on top of my bed frame. It's not as comfortable as a super thick Western mattress, but it's not too bad. I don't like sleeping directly on the floor, especially tatami floors, because they tend to collect dust and give me allergies.

If you can feel the floor then either your futon is super cheap/worn out or you are doing something wrong. You can also stack multiple futon to make it more comfortable.

I got a very nicely made futon a few months after I came to Japan made at a traditional futon-ya, and it was so thick and nice it was all I needed for awhile. But the padding does tend to wear down over time, so I used a cheap Sekichu foam pad underneath it. When my MIL came to visit, we got her a nice traditional futon-ya futon as well, then when she left I used it along with the first futon and got rid of the pad. But as before, they tend to compress a bit. Still, the double futon was fine. However, I found an awesome pad at Nitori that is memory-foam style and comes with a down cover for winter, and now I use that on top of my futon and its super comfortable and really toasty in winter!

So there are tons of options. Traditional futon are great, but do have to be restuffed over time, or supplemented with pads or a second futon. Also, futon should be either hung out in the sun pretty regularly (it fluffs them up a bit and makes sure there's no mold), or you can buy one of the futon cleaners at the electronics store instead, which also kills any bugs.

As for sleeping on the floor, especially if you are sleeping on tatami mats, its good to put away the futon pretty regularly (every day is best, but definitely a few times a week) as the moisture from sleeping can cause mold on the tatami under the futon if left there for a long time. OR, you can go to a store like Cainz and some wooden floor slates that go under the futon and allow air to circulate, and then its not a problem! I try to vacuum the tatami whenever I put the futon outside, but I don't have to worry about doing it every day or anything. I try to get to it every week or so.

I guess just getting a western-style bed is less work, but if you're sleeping on tatami, or don't have the room for a big bed, futon are really great and can be really comfortable! You just might need to look around at places like Nitori at the different options and see what's right for you.

Another option is the pull-down style couch, which you can get at places like Cainz or Sekichu. I slept on that for awhile when I first came to Japan. It is a single-sized bed at night, couch during the day. I found it a bit hard but a lot of people use them as they are multi-purpose.