Pillow

[jon]

Hey Im looking to make a Japanese pillow for my camping gear but cant find any information on them.
Preferably without the stand.

[Please Delete]

What do you mean by "stand"?

Many Japanese pillows are wooden or ceramic in period, and are meant more as head rests than as what we think of as pillows.

Some Asian home goods stores will have more modern, flexible versions. I'll see if I can find pictures to post, for you.

Ii

[Please Delete]

Okay, here's an example from the Kyoto Costume Museum. Though doll-sized, it is a good example:



These are fairly similar to what we see in China as well. They are wood and ceramic. Here are some from the Song and Jin dynasties:






-Ii

[jon]

Like this but without the bottom part. I think my neck would break with the bottom portion. Considering they are generally 7inchs tall.
What is in them? what kind of fabric? Do they have a pillow sheet over the main body?

Jon

[Please Delete]

That appears to just be a round pillow, tied to the base. The earlier pillows appear to have a top pad, but it is probably filled with whatever they had available. Silk noil for some of the high end ones, and rice husks for the lower classes.

Fyi, Japanese traditional pillows, according to Japanese friends who study history, ate many more for neck support than western pillows.

Ii

[solveig]

As I recall, some traditional pillows have dried beans in them. As for neck strain. It depends on how you are accustomed to sleeping. If you sleep on your side (which as I recall is how our iconographic evidence depicts sleeping Japanese) then a tall pillow can work rather well. If you try to sleep on your back with one of those elevated pillows, then not so well.