A futon (布団) is the traditional Japanese bed. It is not furniture but a set of padded quilts. At night you lay them on the tatami floor, and in the morning you fold them away. You make and unmake this bed every day. Thanks to the futon, a Japanese room can be a bedroom at night and an empty living space by day.
Bedding, not furniture
A full futon set has two main parts. The shikibuton (敷き布団) is a firm padded mattress that lies on the floor. The kakebuton (掛け布団) is a thick quilt that covers you like a duvet. A pillow, often filled with buckwheat husks, completes the set. The Western "futon" sofa bed is only a distant relative that borrowed the name. A real futon is soft, thin enough to fold and light enough to lift, because it has to go away each day. A Western bed stays in the room. A futon disappears, and its room becomes something else.
The daily ritual
Life with a futon has a small daily rhythm. In the morning you fold it up and put it in the oshiire (押し入れ), a deep closet with sliding doors made for exactly this. The room is then completely free. On sunny days, people across Japan hang their futon over balconies and railings to air them in the sun. Warmth and light freshen the padding and fight damp and dust mites. Futon drying in the sun are a normal sight on any fine afternoon. Japanese even has a word for a futon that nobody ever puts away: mannendoko, or "year-round bed." It hints at a messy, lazy household.
Words & idioms to take away
Idioms & proverbs to carry away
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押し入れ (oshiire): a deep built-in closet behind sliding doors. The futon lives here during the day, and every traditional bedroom has one.
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万年床 (mannendoko): literally "ten-thousand-year bed," a futon that stays on the floor day and night. The word is a byword for laziness.