OK, so we moved from Tokyo to the US. We had a similar sofa bed in Tokyo / sold by a store called Nitori (well known in Japan as a discount furniture store). We loved that sofa, but since I found one that looked the same on , we decided not to spend the money to ship it from Tokyo to the US.
Comparing the two similar sofas will help explain the ratings I gave.
The one photo of a living room scene is from / the US sofa.
The next four are ones I took in Tokyo of our sofa.
This is what I found.
The functions are the same.
You can assemble the lounge section onto either side.
They are both firmly comfortable and turn into beds quite easily by simply pulling out the bottom section and having it automatically lift up level with the seat and making quite a large sofa bed.
The beds on both of them are also very comfortable (firm and no sagging) 100 better than the old style sofa beds that have bars and springs pushing against your back all night. I could never sleep on those. Believe me, this type of sofa bed is way better.
We like the color of both of them. A lighter grey color.
They are both long enough for me to lay down (Im 181 cm / 511).
The back cushions are held on by velcro and can be removed to make the bed even wider.
The lounge top easily lifts up with a strap at the front, revealing a fairly large storage compartment which will hold all the bedding.
They are heavy and will not slide well on carpet, but not hard to move on a hard floor.
The differences between the one in Japan and the US
Similar fabric, but the Japan one is smooth, no creases or seams. The one in the US has dimples I would call them / see the photo. That one looks nice in a decorative sort of way, but has lots of creases because of the dimples and we noticed that one of the seams was pulling apart. My wife said she could sew it back together. The smooth one had no such problems with the fabric.
The Japanese one is a couple inches wider from the back to the front where you sit on the seat. So, of course, when you pull it out, the bed is a few inches wider.
The one in Tokyo has two straps to pull out the bed and the US one has one strap in the middle (which is hidden in the photo). The two straps make it easier to pull out. In both, just pull the straps out and up and the bed part lifts up automatically as the bottom section come straight out. Very nice design. To close the bed, lift up on the straps and the bed part slides down into place, then gently push the bottom section in under the sofa. It all works very smoothly.
You can see from the photos of the Japanese sofa that there is a panel on the side of the pulled/out part (red circle) to hide the underside. The US one has no panel and the photos didnt show this. So when you pull out the bed part on the US sofa, you can see the floor and the inside workings of the sofa bed. Not as nice looking as the black panel.
And one other big difference.
In Japan the delivery people brought the boxes in, unpacked all the parts, assembled everything, asked where we wanted to place it, cleaned up and carried out all the packing material, removed the old sofa and were extremely polite the whole time. I made that time lapse movie of the latter stages of the assembly process to aid in disassembling the unit if I ever needed to.
In the US a single delivery guy left all the heavy boxes at the doorstep and went away.
Ive seen better
OK, so we moved from Tokyo to the US. We had a similar sofa bed in Tokyo / sold by a store called Nitori (well known in Japan as a discount furniture store). We loved that sofa, but since I found one that looked the same on , we decided not to spend the money to ship it from Tokyo to the US. Comparing the two similar sofas will help explain the ratings I gave. The one photo of a living room scene is from / the US sofa. The next four are ones I took in Tokyo of our sofa. This is what I found. The functions are the same. You can assemble the lounge section onto either side. They are both firmly comfortable and turn into beds quite easily by simply pulling out the bottom section and having it automatically lift up level with the seat and making quite a large sofa bed. The beds on both of them are also very comfortable (firm and no sagging) 100 better than the old style sofa beds that have bars and springs pushing against your back all night. I could never sleep on those. Believe me, this type of sofa bed is way better. We like the color of both of them. A lighter grey color. They are both long enough for me to lay down (Im 181 cm / 511). The back cushions are held on by velcro and can be removed to make the bed even wider. The lounge top easily lifts up with a strap at the front, revealing a fairly large storage compartment which will hold all the bedding. They are heavy and will not slide well on carpet, but not hard to move on a hard floor. The differences between the one in Japan and the US Similar fabric, but the Japan one is smooth, no creases or seams. The one in the US has dimples I would call them / see the photo. That one looks nice in a decorative sort of way, but has lots of creases because of the dimples and we noticed that one of the seams was pulling apart. My wife said she could sew it back together. The smooth one had no such problems with the fabric. The Japanese one is a couple inches wider from the back to the front where you sit on the seat. So, of course, when you pull it out, the bed is a few inches wider. The one in Tokyo has two straps to pull out the bed and the US one has one strap in the middle (which is hidden in the photo). The two straps make it easier to pull out. In both, just pull the straps out and up and the bed part lifts up automatically as the bottom section come straight out. Very nice design. To close the bed, lift up on the straps and the bed part slides down into place, then gently push the bottom section in under the sofa. It all works very smoothly. You can see from the photos of the Japanese sofa that there is a panel on the side of the pulled/out part (red circle) to hide the underside. The US one has no panel and the photos didnt show this. So when you pull out the bed part on the US sofa, you can see the floor and the inside workings of the sofa bed. Not as nice looking as the black panel. And one other big difference. In Japan the delivery people brought the boxes in, unpacked all the parts, assembled everything, asked where we wanted to place it, cleaned up and carried out all the packing material, removed the old sofa and were extremely polite the whole time. I made that time lapse movie of the latter stages of the assembly process to aid in disassembling the unit if I ever needed to. In the US a single delivery guy left all the heavy boxes at the doorstep and went away.