It’s like sleeping inside a batch of soft, comfy mochi.

As some of you may recall, back in late spring, just before the start of Japan’s mercilessly hot and humid rainy season, our Japanese-language reporter Go Hatori treated himself to a set of Uniqlo bedsheets. So silky smooth and cool to the touch that they immediately altered Go’s perception of reality, the sheets ushered in six months of sound sleep for our reporter, but recently we started noticing changes.

Darker circles under Go’s eyes. A certain sluggishness to his movements that wasn’t there before. Spontaneously falling asleep at his desk while the rest of us were doing serious work. Yes, Go had become sleep-deprived, because with winter just a few weeks away, it’s now far too cold for his fancy summertime sheets.

And so another shopping trip was in order, but this time Go walked right past Uniqlo and made his way to our local branch of home furnishings chain Nitori, which has a location not far from SoraNews24 headquarters in downtown Tokyo’s Shinjuku neighborhood.

Nitori has a reputation for surprisingly high quality and low prices, and right off the bat they were delivering on the second part of that. Go picked up a duvet cover and box sheets for his semi-double bed for 2,536 yen (US$23.50) each, plus a pair of pillowcases for 600 yen each, all extremely reasonable for Japan. All of the items are part of Nitori’ s N Warm Bedding series, and as soon as Go got back home, he stripped off his old sheets and put on his new ones.

Gazing across the plane of his mattress was now like looking at an inviting horizon, with soft, fluffy fibers ready to receive him on his journey to slumber land. Running a hand across the sheets rewarded him with a warm, soothing sensation, like stroking a soft-haired cat.

The duvet cover attaches with clip straps, making it quick and easy to attach to a down blanket.

The pillowcases, meanwhile, are simple zip-up affairs.

The sight of his bed outfitted with a full set of N Warm gear was incredibly enticing, making the rainbow patterns of light thrown onto the sheets by Go’s interior crystal decorations entirely appropriate.

Like most Japanese people, Go showers at night, and he gave himself an extra-thorough scrubbing for his first night in his new sheets.

Slipping underneath the covers, Go was amazed at how instantly warm the experience was. Usually, you have to endure a few shivery moments as your own body heat warms up the space under the blanket, but not with the N Warm sheets.

“This is the best!” Go thought happily.

“Really, the only way to describe it is ‘the best,’” he mentally repeated.

But once again, Go’s season-specific sheets broadened his consciousness. In the final seconds before he drifted off into sleep, Go first felt the sensation of being hugged by a giant stuffed panda…

…and then, just before his first satisfied snores, of being transformed into a mouthful of mochi, dusted with sweet kinako soybean powder.

So yes , Go is completely satisfied with his new Nitori sheets, and plans to use them as his go-to excuse for why he can’t come to work on cold winter mornings for the next three months, because how could anyone honestly expect him to crawl out of such a cozy bed?

Related: Nitori N Warm Bedding website
Images ©SoraNews24
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