I was in Tokyo at my hotel when it happened. I thought maybe I had a Japanese vibrating bed for an alarm clock before realizing what was happening. I was on the 7th floor of a hotel and there was a slight sway for about 45 seconds. Given the duration I assumed it was fairly sizeabke but far away.
John Joseph Houghtaling (pronounced HUFF-tay-ling;[1] November 14, 1916 – June 17, 2009[1]) was an American entrepreneur and inventor who in 1958 invented the Magic Fingers Vibrating Bed, a common feature in mid-priced hotels and motels from the 1960s to the early 1980s.
(Well, maybe they are Japanese, now, haha).
The Japanese invented massage chairs some years before this, though, and a vibrating bed might be regarded as a derivative thereof:
Robotic massage chairs were first brought to market in 1954 by the Family Fujiryoki company.
It's funny how our attitudes change depending on the location. In Japan a vibrating bed is seen as technological sophistication, in America it's old and tacky.
Japanese electronics (especially in the boom years of the 80's and early 90's) have a certain 'Technology for Technology's Sake' design sensibility among them.
I experienced my first earthquake in Japan. I was sleeping with the window open and had a bag hanging on a nearby shelf. I woke up and the wind was blowing, and the bag was shaking. But as I woke up more, I realized that the wind wouldn't really move the heavy bag like that, and then realized that it was the building that was moving and the bag was mostly remaining still.
Rather soothing actually. I always enjoy flights where there are some turbulence; helps me sleep better.
The same thing happened to me. My thoughts: "I don't understand why this bed is shaking. Does this Japanese bed have some sort of massage mode that got triggered somehow? Silly me, if it had a massage mode, I would have noticed electronics somewhere. The people downstairs must be doing something. Ok, back to sleep."
