Carpet for tatami room?

I would like to put a carpet in my 6 tatami room.

First, is it OK to completely cover a tatami room with carpet? Any potential problems?

Second, is there a particular kind of carpet I should buy/not buy? The ones I saw earlier in the store have different Kanji on the packs, so wasn't sure if some are suitable for some room types (i.e. tatami vs wood floor). What Kanji would tell me it's definitely OK for tatami rooms (apart from it has 6 tatami written on the pack)?

I dont recommend you cover all of it... No more than 3, because tatami has to air out and breathe. It cant be covered completely... unless you want to keep take the carpet up every 2 days, and let the tatami breathe a day, and to make sure nothing is developing under there... Dont think you want to constantly be moving funiture...

especially during warm weather and summer months. summer is very humid, so it will be very moist... everything is in danger of 'dani', I dont know what dani is, but dust mites and mold, and whatever else.

If you wanted carpet, you should have gotten flooring apartment. But if you want to save yourself some hassle, and not pay big money to replace all the tatami in that room, better stick to a smaller rug.

Thanks Reina

Your points are pretty much as I suspected. I actually like and prefer the tatami, but just thought it might be better to have furniture sitting on a carpet for protection.

Tatami it is..

Jo,

A lot of locals have successfully covered tatami rooms in the past and have kept it covered, so technically it can be done.

I don't think there are any carpets that are especially suitable or especially not suitable for tatami, but why not just ask the shop if it's okay, just to make sure.

But if your tatami is fresh and green, it's probably better to wait until it gets brown, so that you'd know it's dry enough. If you have allergies however, making layers on your floor is not recommended. It's not even good to cover a carpet over another carpet as that sort of environment will attract mites.

By the way, if you are planning to rent/buy a new place, keep in mind that the landlord will usually renew the tatami just before the new resident moves in. In other words, if you go see a room and the tatami is brown, that doesn't mean that it will still be brown after you sign the contract.

Jo, your second post came in as I was posting my first. If all you want to do is to put protection under you furniture, just put bits and pieces of rugs under the furniture. There are also various little sheets designed for that. Just ask at your favorite DIY shop.

Thanks for the input everyone. I'll think it over, but probably will stay with the tatami.

By the way,is it acceptable for the owner of an apartment to simply 'turn over' rather than replace (good condition) tatami for new renters? Are there any hygiene issues in using a previous renter's tatami, even if in sound condition?

Just to clarify something above, dani means dust mites, kabi is mold.

Both are potential issues if you completely cover tatami.

When the packaging with a rug says "6 tatami", that usually just refers to the size, it's not an indication that that particular carpet is for putting over tatami.