Very few Japanese homes have installed carpeting. Older houses and apartments often have tatami reed mats, and in newer places you’ll usually find tile, wood, or rubberized flooring.

That’s not to say people in Japan can’t appreciate a nice bit of soft fuzziness between their toes, though. Even without permanent carpeting, many people will toss a carpeted mat on the floor to make their living or bedroom extra comfy, especially during the colder part of the year.

Of course, cold weather also means spending more time indoors, with extra time on your hands, and sometimes that patch of carpeting becomes a canvas for some seriously cool fan art.

There are a couple of advantages to working in this unusual medium. Since all you’re doing is using your fingers to make rows of fibers stand up and form lines, there’s no need for a pen or brush. Likewise, you won’t need to use an eraser or start over if you screw up, since you can just brush the carpet back the other way to quickly undo as little or as much as you want.

Given Japan’s deep love of animation and video games, it’s no surprise that those two fields provide plenty of inspiration for carpet fan art.

▼ Would Pikachu generate enough electricity to power an electric heated carpet?

▼ With the Naruto manga now over, can we expect a carpet comic spinoff starring Kakashi?

▼ Like something out of an Escher painting, here’s Nintendo’s Kirby, rendered on a 2-D carpet jumping out of the 3-D enhanced 2-D screen of the 3DS.

▼ One impressive rendering of One Piece’s one and only Luffy

https://twitter.com/koonico/status/372369800074240001

We’re not trying to imply that everyone who listens to Hatsune Miku is a shut-in, and we’re actually fans ourselves. Still, there do seem to be a lot of people kicking it at home and carpet doodling her.

https://twitter.com/NekoLuv_1101/status/417508848899878912

It’s not just the homegrown heroes who’re showing up in rugs across Japan, though. For example, Winnie the Pooh is pretty easy to draw, but definitely cute and just the sort of character who makes sense for a soft, fluffy mat.

https://twitter.com/prc_fxxker/status/360292893681926146

▼ The absorbency of the fibers will come in handy if Donald launches into one of his spittle-spewing temper tantrums.

https://twitter.com/katsuyaXmas/status/453791617372012544

▼ In contrast to Disney’s biggest hot head, here’re living snowman Olaf and ice queen Elsa.

https://twitter.com/HaruEay0201/status/531432857403543552

Some people eventually outgrow their love of video games and cartoons, though. Many cast off those hobbies when they hit puberty, which also happens to be when they start to notice the opposite sex.

▼ Between the bikini girl, airsoft gun, and dumbbell, all this room needs is a barbeque and a set of hammers or wrenches to complete its macho bingo card.

https://twitter.com/Daiking_G/status/531415183176908800

Still, ask yourself which you’d rather walk into someone’s room to find: an insight into their love of sexy ladies, or a window into the latent violence of their punch-filled psyche?

▼ Sure, getting hit by a single carpet fist probably wouldn’t hurt very much, but this many times?

https://twitter.com/24aaaichi/status/373581613101088768

We can’t help but think that something else, like this elegant dandelion, would be a more soothing site to have greeting you every time you look down.

https://twitter.com/l_v_lo/status/391596588696481792

Of course, as with any project, the more time you spend on your carpet art, the better the result you can expect. Maybe that’s why one Twitter user who was stuck resting at home with a fever managed to create this impressive piece.

That’s the kanji for netsu. What’s it mean? Fever.

Apparently the old piece of advice, “Write what you know,” doesn’t just work for books and movies, but calligraphy too.

Source; Naver Matome
Top image: Twitter (1, 2)