Being seated for a long period of time can be very exhausting and painful. People who have worked at a desk job know the agony of sitting for extended periods of time. Not only does it hurt the bottom, but it also causes neck, shoulder, and back pain, which explains the popularity of ergonomic chairs these days or standing desks, which allow people to work on their computers while standing up.
If we were to hold a competition to see who can outlast the others on a sitting position, no doubt the Japanese will be one of the major contenders to win as sitting has been part of the culture for centuries. In fact, it is one of the etiquette rules taught to them from an early age, and in particular the seiza.
Seiza is a traditional Japanese sitting style wherein the legs are folded underneath the thighs while seated upright. It is used as a means of showing respect to elders or people of higher position.
Since the Edo period, the Japanese have been sitting this way on the floor, and many aspects of their culture from architecture to interior design have been developed around this culture of sitting. Only in the past century has the Japanese culture begun to adopt chairs for sitting, but it took them a while to get used to it.
Now, many designers are incorporating both traditional concepts and newer ergonomic ideas to craft chairs suitable for individuals. Some of them like Kageyu Noro and Hidemasa Yatabe advocate for chairs customized to a person's body. In so doing, not only does one improve posture but also helps relieve them from the stresses of everyday life.
(Image credit: Roméo A./Unsplash)