8/31/2008

–Taking your Japanese necktie to the mat?–

There’s nothing more quintessentially Japanese than tatami–the traditional type of flooring mats made of woven soft rush straw packed with rice straw.
Not so traditional is this tatami mat necktie that my drinking buddy, Mulboyne, found, which will be for sale starting tomorrow for 5,800 yen or about US$53. Mulboyne says you can’t actually tie it: there’s a band to hold it around your neck.

The poor guys at Japan’s Tatami Industry Promotion Association grasping at straws, don’t you think?
Anyway, read more details in this Japanese PDF.