Bed related Bed mattress (Larkowl)
4 products
Luxuriously crafted with high-quality natural bristles
Masterful Mattresses That Transcend Springs
Order mattresses are individually handcrafted by masters who are intimately familiar with their materials and construction.
They are luxurious sleeping products, made with high-quality natural hair such as camel and yak, ensuring comfortable sleep throughout the four seasons.
Designed with the Japanese aesthetic in mind, these mattresses achieve an optimal balance, pursuing the ultimate comfort upon waking.
They offer a supreme awakening, filled with deep tranquility and a refreshing feeling, as if reborn.
Four features of Larkowl
1. Breathable Comfort
Traditional mattresses often use materials like urethane, which have poor moisture release and can feel stuffy. However, the natural materials used in "Larkowl" excel at humidity regulation, making them highly breathable. This creates an optimal sleeping environment.
2. Pleasant Warmth
We've lavishly used the wool of two-humped camels, which can withstand extreme cold down to -40℃, and yak wool, which is adapted to even harsher environments. The highly insulative, porous fibers trap air, preventing body heat from escaping and providing a pleasant warmth.
3. Ease of Turning Over
High-quality natural fibers are layered such that the fibers become finer towards the top. Furthermore, combined with a polyester core, this structure stabilizes sleeping posture and makes it easier to turn over.
4. Supple Cushioning
The unique layered structure provides supple cushioning. It cradles the body while preventing excessive sinking, thus eliminating pressure points. This helps relieve daily fatigue and supports a comfortable awakening.
Custom-made mattresses by artisans
Using carefully selected fabrics and materials, skilled artisans meticulously finish each item one by one.
Good Design Award winner
The Good Design Award is an award presented annually to objects with outstanding design, organized by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion, a public interest incorporated foundation, and is Japan's only "comprehensive design promotion system." Larkowl's design has been highly praised, as evidenced by its inclusion in the collection of jury comments, "My Chosen Product."
How Larkowl Works
We have established a structure using a natural hair laminated construction that stabilizes posture and allows for easy turning, without causing pressure or pain.
The laminated structure of natural fibers offers two properties: "pressure distribution" and "support." "Pressure distribution" refers to the ability to distribute the body pressure applied to the bedding, while "support" refers to the ability to bear the body's weight.
Mattresses require both "pressure distribution" and "support." However, achieving both simultaneously is currently difficult. For example, soft materials like urethane are excellent at pressure distribution, but their support could be improved. Soft materials cause the body to sink in, leading to an unnatural posture and making it difficult to turn over.
While urethane material is highly absorbent, it is poor at releasing moisture, making it unsuitable for Japan's hot and humid summers, as it can feel stuffy. Hard core materials like solidified cotton are excellent at support, but their pressure distribution could be improved, leading to problems such as feelings of pressure and pain.
To solve this problem, we blended wool-like natural hair 60mm or less in length with hair-like natural hair 200mm or more in length. We used high-quality natural hairs such as camel, yak, horse, and cashmere, and created a laminated structure where the diameter of the hair increases towards the lower layers. The weaker lateral tension of the hair in the upper layers results in a softer, more cushioned feel, while the stronger lateral tension of the hair in the lower layers provides greater resilience.
This laminated structure thus achieves both pressure distribution and support, creating a structure where you can sleep stably, turn over easily, and without feeling pressure or pain. The natural materials used have been purified to remove impurities and enhance cleanliness, and the fibers have been activated using ionization technology for which international patents have been granted in Japan, the US, Europe, and other regions.
"Larkowl" is a custom-made mattress that uses luxurious natural hair and is built to order.
"Larkowl" is a fully custom mattress where certified specialists thoroughly counsel each individual and design the specifications. Our masters, who are knowledgeable about materials and construction, carefully craft each piece. We also consider environmental impact, with Oeko-Tex certification, re-tailoring, material replacement/disposal, and resource regeneration.
You can choose the cushion unit combination.
Made with natural hairs from camels, yaks, horses, and cashmere goats. Natural hair excels at temperature regulation, and its breathability and heat retention make it an ideal material for Japan, with its distinct four seasons. Natural hair is treated to remove impurities and enhance cleanliness, and the fibers are activated using ionization technology. It also offers excellent support for bearing body weight and cushioning for distributing body pressure. You can choose from the three cushion unit patterns shown on the right.
Cushion Unit Materials
The top layer of the mattress is generously filled with natural, high-quality hair. Natural hair is known for its excellent heat retention, moisture absorption, moisture release, and breathability. This promotes stable temperature and humidity within the bed, without the stuffiness often associated with urethane materials.
Camel
The wool comes from two-humped camels grazed in the South Gobi region of Mongolia. To adapt to the harsh natural environment, where summer temperatures reach 45°C and winter temperatures drop to -40°C, the raw wool has excellent heat retention, moisture absorption, and moisture release properties. Camel wool has better moisture release than sheep wool, and can maintain an ideal humidity of 40-50% at all times.
As 30% of perspiration during sleep is absorbed by duvets and 70% by mattresses, camel is said to have the most suitable properties for bedding. By placing camel wool in the upper layer of the cushion unit, we have created a mattress that combines excellent moisture release, preventing stuffiness, with warmth.
yak
Yaks live in cold, high-altitude regions and mountainous areas, such as the remote parts of Mongolia. Yak wool, also known as Tibetan cashmere, is so soft and delicate that it is used in high-end textiles. Additionally, its long, thick hair is strong enough to be used for ropes and hats. Yak hair is an excellent material for bedding, particularly for mattresses, due to its durability, heat retention, and moisture-absorbing and-releasing properties.
By using a blend of yak's natural hair—its strong, coarse hair and soft, fine wool—in our mattresses, we have created a mattress that offers both warmth and support while being resistant to flattening. By placing the thicker yak hair beneath the camel hair, the mattress provides even firmer body support.
Hose
In German-speaking countries, it's said that "nobles sleep on horsehair mattresses, and commoners on straw," indicating that horsehair has long been a traditional luxury material used in sofas, mattresses, and cushions for high-end car seats. The amount of hair that can be obtained from a single horse is small, making it a very valuable material. It is characterized by strong, flexible, thick, and long hairs, similar to those used in violin bows.
Luxuriously layered horsehair, rich in elasticity and excellent in support and durability, firmly supports the body during sleep. It also boasts excellent breathability, including humidity and temperature regulating functions.
Cashmere
High-quality cashmere is restricted to being sourced only from cashmere goats that inhabit the harsh mountainous regions with extreme temperatures. It is highly valued because only about 150 to 200 grams can be harvested from a single cashmere goat.
Cashmere fiber is smooth with a velvety luster and a unique, slick feel. It also excels in softness, texture, lightness, and heat retention. Furthermore, because cashmere fiber is much finer than wool, it absorbs water quickly, making it highly absorbent and less prone to stuffiness.
At Iwata, to address the issue of pilling (fuzz balls caused by friction) that can occur when cashmere is used in mattresses that bear body pressure, we mix cashmere fiber with camel hair. This method allows us to maximize the advantages of cashmere while creating a mattress that is softer and offers better heat retention than mattresses made solely with camel hair.
Core Unit Materials
To increase thickness as a mattress and enhance durability, we adopted a layered polyester core material. The materials used are recyclable.
Polyester I-Cushion
I-Cushion is a term that refers to Iwata's concept of a non-spring polyester cushion. The polyester used in the top and bottom layers has vertically oriented fibers, while the polyester used in the middle layer has horizontally oriented fibers. This structure allows moisture to escape through the vertical and horizontal fiber pathways. We have introduced a mattress durability testing machine and conducted 80,000 compression tests.
As a result of repeated testing and verification of various material and structural combinations, we have achieved both comfortable sleep and excellent resistance to sagging. Unlike spring mattresses, which are difficult to dispose of after their lifespan, I-Cushions can be collected for recycling (restoration processing) or resource recovery. Since the core unit uses polyester, it is also lighter and easier to maintain than traditional spring mattresses.
You can choose the color of the fabric.
The fabric is made from 100% original cotton. The Oxford weave fabric, which has not undergone any resin treatment, is highly breathable and moisture-wicking, supporting a comfortable sleeping environment.
You can choose from the following plain dyes:
Cotton Oxford - Beige
Cotton Oxford - Ash
You can choose the color of the decorative tassel.
You can choose from five colors for the top and bottom tassels: blue, orange, brown, red, and white.
They are firmly bound by a futon-making master using a special needle several tens of centimeters long.
Blue
Orange
Brown
Red
White
Blue
Orange
Brown
Red
White
We will create the size you desire.
In addition to standard sizes, we can also create custom sizes.
MH and ML types can accommodate up to 160 cm (width) x 210 cm (length), and MT types can accommodate up to 200 cm (width) x 210 cm (length).
We can print the customer's name. [Free Service]
The custom-made "Larkowl" mattress is uniquely yours.
As proof of its bespoke nature, we will engrave your name on it.
It can be remade.
After their useful life, they can be re-tailored or have parts replaced, just like a futon.
Thorough removal of impurities using special technology
Iwata's advanced technology thoroughly removes impurities from natural materials by generating ions without the use of chemicals. The simultaneous generation of ozone also sterilizes, bleaches, and deodorizes the materials, maximizing their inherent capabilities.
We thoroughly inspect for harmful chemical substances.
OEKO-TEX is an international safety standard for textile products that prohibits or restricts the use of harmful substances in textile products and is issued only to products that meet the standard. Iwata's bedding has been certified "product by product." All materials used in the bedding, such as down, natural hair, fabric, thread, and zippers, have cleared the standards, proving that even a single thread is safe.
We use sustainable zippers.
The NATURON® (Naturon) YKK zipper used in LARKOWL is a resource-saving, circular fastener that uses recycled polyester in the tape or tape element.
*This will be changed once the current zipper stock runs out.
We've scientifically enhanced the comfort of Larkowl beds.
Regarding Summer Sleeping Comfort
The comparison of temperature and humidity on the mattress between Larkowl and a urethane mattress showed that while temperature rose under both conditions, humidity significantly decreased with A. (Demonstration 1)
More users of urethane mattresses strongly desired a cooler mattress and felt it was stuffy. (Experiments 2 & 3)
About Winter Sleep Comfort
Comparing the temperature and humidity inside futons using Larkowl and a spring mattress, the temperature increased with A. Additionally, the humidity was also suppressed with A. (Experiment 1)
*Presented at the 67th Annual Meeting of the Japan Society of Physiological Anthropology
*Reproduction of this data is prohibited.
Larkowl kept my feet warmer, making for a more comfortable sleep. (Demonstrations 2 & 3)
Larkowl lineup and specifications
You can achieve your preferred level of support and cushioning by combining a core unit and a cushion unit.
MH Type: Standard model
MD Type: Soft model
MT Type: For those who want more cushioning (Exclusively sold at direct stores)
MH type (Standard) [Mattress height: MH210: approx. 18cm, MH521: approx. 21cm]
This product is a standard item of Larkowl, and is loved by many people.
MD Type [Mattress Height: MD210: Approx. 18cm, MD521: Approx. 21cm]
A softer type of mattress.
MT Type [Mattress height: approx. 23cm]
Enhanced cushioning with 3D cushions. Available up to King size.
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