Do you have tatami mats where you live? If so, do you find it hard to keep them clean?

no dont need.

Yes, all our rooms, except the kitchen, have tatami. No problem keeping them clean—much easier than carpets.

Cleaning, not a problem. DANI! Aghhh... the cats seem to drag then in...fleas seem happy there also...

Nope a haven for dust mites and any other creepy crawlies. Our home is 100% linoleum, in a fashionable wood pattern.

We built a Japanese style house and have one tatami room. Its cheap modern tatami, so they have a foam core. Real tatami are heavier and much more substantial. Ours still look fine after fifteen years and are not hard to clean. I've lifted them up a couple of times to run speaker cables underneath and there was no mould or other damage.

The other rooms have cypress (hinoki) wooden flooring which is easy to clean and has more substantial furniture on it. I like it, but hinoki scratches and dings very easily.

Used to, until my father-in-law died, from a mold infection he contracted in his lungs, that was directly connected to the tatami mats that he slept on, in his room.

They were "cleaned" and aired out, at LEAST once a year, but one never knows what gets inside between the cleanings!

After that, we removed ALL the tatami from the house, 5 separate rooms, and I replaced them all with hardwood floors!