A bolster (etymology: Middle English, derived from Old English, and before that the Germanic word *ƀulstraz) is a long narrow pillow or cushion filled with cotton, down, or fibre. In western countries, it is usually placed at the head of bed and functions as head or back support. In south and southeast Asian countries, in particular Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand, the bolster is designed to be hugged when sleeping. In Vietnam, it is called "gối ôm" meaning "hugging pillow." It is called a dakimakura in Japanese. In the Philippines, many call it the "hotdog pillow" (or more natively, "tandayan") following the close resemblance to the food bearing that name. In Chinese, its hanyu pinyin is "bao zhen" (lit. "hugging pillow"). In Cantonese, it is called a "Lam Chum". The Indonesian/Malay folks called it "bantal peluk" or "bantal guling". In the Indo-Pak Sub Continent, it is also called Gao-Takkiya or masnad or masland, and is used for back support as well as to hug when going to sleep.[1] In the United States, "body pillows" resemble bolsters and are designed to be hugged when sleeping.
Tradition suggests that a wife would fashion the bolster out of bamboo and give it to her husband when he traveled away from home so that he would not be lonely at night, hence the name "bamboo wife," or "Dutch wife," or chikufujin in Japanese.
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