My friend was telling me about her interesting experiences as an exchange student in Japan. We were discussing over dinner how the tatami is actually so comfortable people enjoy siting on the floor.

Then she told us that instead of using the laptop sitting at a proper desk and chair, many people would sit just on the floor and a table of lower height.

Since this was pretty interesting, I went back and surf around and found some pretty interesting statistics off What Japan Thinks on this particular habit of Japanese.

This recent survey was conducted with 300 members (150M/150F) of Cross Marketing’s online monitor group who use a computer at home. 20.0% in their teens, 20.0% in their twenties, 20.0% in their thirties, 20.0% in their forties, and 20.0% in their fifties.

Q1: In which room is the computer you use the most? (Sample Size=300)

Living room	44.3
Bedroom	6.0%
Study	7.3%
Children’s room	1.0%
Own room	32.0%
Toilet	0.0%
Other room at home	7.0%
Other	2.3%

Q2: How do you mostly place and use your home computer? (Sample size=300)

On ordinary table, sit on chair	33.0%
On computer desk, sit on chair	32.7%
On ordinary table, sit on floor	23.3%
On computer desk, sit on floor	6.3%
Computer on floor, sit on floor	2.0%
Use lying down	2.3%
Other	0.3%

Q3: What is the main reason for using your home computer in the fashion chosen for Q2? (Sample size=300)

Suits the room, furniture layout	43.7%
Relaxing	27.0%
Out of habit	18.7%
Suits the computer set up	1.7%
Other	0.7%
No particular reason	8.3%

Summing up: Seems like about one-third of Japanese do surf sitting on The Floor. But I’m guessing its more limited to using their laptops than a proper desktop. Also I think its probably due to the fact that Japanese homes are so crammed they don’t really want to have a bulky desktop and desk to take up space.

So how about you? Do you surf sitting on the floor? I usually surf sitting on my bed while watching the TV at the same time.