Explore everyday life in Japan
There is something about winter in Japan that makes it feel particularly cold.
Maybe it has to do with the high moisture levels of the air. Maybe it has something to do with the way buildings are constructed here. Maybe it has to do with the way houses, schools, and buildings throughout much of the country often use single space heaters, sometimes electric and sometimes gas, to heat individual rooms (hallways and rooms that are not in use are often as cold as, if not colder than the air outside). Maybe it has something to do with the belief in keeping windows slightly ajar and periodically airing buildings out in order to freshen the air in them and to help reduce the transmission of colds and viruses.
Whatever the reason, winter in Japan is generally cold, and a smell that you will probably encounter as you walk through smaller residential streets and visit small restaurants is that of kerosene. Though, perhaps, this is changing little by little, kerosene is still a very commonly used heating oil in Japan. The smell of which is something that I just can't seem to get accustomed to.
I imagine that anyone who has ever spent a winter in Japan has struggled with the cold here. I also imagine that anyone who has spent a winter here has fallen in love with a special piece of furniture that probably most houses and apartments in Japan have, something called a kotatsu.
A kotatsu is a low table, much like a coffee table, that has an electric heater and a fan mounted to the framing that fills the center of it. During spring, summer, and fall, these tables appear as regular coffee tables do, but in winter, their tabletops are removed and a thick comforter is placed over their frames. Their tabletops are then returned, their plugs are plugged into a nearby outlet, and their heaters are turned on. After which, they become heavenly heating stations for your lower body that, once entered, tend to hold you firmly in place.
If you’re the type of person who finds it hard to get out of bed on cold mornings, you might just be doomed if you ever put your legs under the comforter of a kotatsu. Leaving their pocket of warmth for the cold that awaits you outside and in other rooms is not very appealing.
This is an ongoing series that will explore various aspects of daily life in Japan. My hope is that this series will not only reveal to its followers, image by image, what Japan looks like, but that it will also inform its followers about unique Japanese items and various cultural and societal practices. If you are interested in getting regular updates about life in Japan, please consider following me at @boxcarblue. If you have any questions about life in Japan, please don’t hesitate to ask. I will do my best to answer all of your questions.