No Central Heating? Here's What Japanese Homes Do Instead

Comments · 1.6K

• JA

  @JapanwithNao · 8 months ago · pinned

  Happy New Year🎉 , I hope I can share more things in Japan with you😃Thank you for watching!

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• EQ

  @equinox7839 · 8 months ago

  Here in Germany, well isolated houses and central heating are the norm. I was in Japan and I was honestly surprised by the lack of central heating even in places where it gets pretty cold.

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• MS

  @Ms908765 · 8 months ago

  In Spain we also have kotatsu (it's called a "mesa camilla" with a brazier), but the table is taller, with a skirt, and traditionally charcoal was used in the brazier, but now there are electric ones too. Many Japanese people don't know that kotatsu exist outside of Japan and think that only they have that custom. In Spain, the brazier is disappearing because people prefer electric heaters, which are safer; burning charcoal sometimes caused a lack of oxygen. But you still see braziers more in villages than in the city. I lived in Japan for 15 years with my Japanese ex-husband (an abusive and narcissistic man) and with children.

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• JU

  @JuppKapolcke · 8 months ago (edited)

  Maybe a CO monitor just in case with a kerosine heater indoors. The insulation might be bad and not airtight but still....

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• GO

  @gollygoshdarn · 8 months ago

  I grew up in Alaska! &nbsp;We made little pillows out of cotton fabric (usually a terry dish towel), and filled them with white rice or field corn. Microwave for about 2 minutes, and either put it in the pocket of your hoodie, or throw it under the covers of your bed before you go to sleep. <br><br>I made one for my daughter a while ago, and she fell in love.

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• JU

  @julierawlins5984 · 8 months ago

  The warm carpet is a brilliant idea.

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• AS

  @asthedear2938 · 8 months ago

  I am from the west coast of Canada, and a lot of these methods are not too different from the traditional ways of keeping warm in old homes on the other side of the pacific! Warm underwear, extra layers, bedwarmers, hot waterbottles under blankets at a desk, fanning the air under a blanket to warm it evenly, and even making sure to warm up a shower/bath sufficiently before getting naked to avoid shock are all things I learned by osmosis from the people around me.<br>I&apos;m surprised you didn&apos;t mention constantly drinking hot tea!

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• FL

  @flyboy4960 · 8 months ago

  In the US, you can buy a Bedjet, it quietly blows warm, hot or cool air between the sheets. It’s also wonderful to eliminate bed sweats.

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• BO

  @BobHenderson-dr2wy · 8 months ago

  How to sleep in a refrigerator, tonight at 9

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• SO

  @soundoflight8193 · 8 months ago

  When I first visited Japan years ago I stayed in a friend&apos;s tiny uninsulated one bedroom house (like a granny flat) in someone&apos;s garden. Aside from the kerosene heater which was OK, I really kept warm before going to bed each cold winter night by going to the local sento (Japanese bath) where my body was bathed literally in near boiling water. Going back I did not feel the cold at all and had the coziest of sleeps under my quilts &amp; on my futon. With no insulation the room felt like being outside, but I enjoyed the cold garden air very much before the gokiburis (huge flying cockroaches) re-emerged in spring hoards and the putrid summer heat &amp; humidity following the rainy period. They are worthy of a video of their own. The Japanese relationship with these creatures is best illustrated by the popular Gokiburi Hoi Hoi ( trap trap) - a cardboard adhesive trap that would lure &nbsp;and trap them inside. I remember using one and hearing in the middle of the night the sound of &nbsp;its legs futilely scraping against the cardboard trying to escape. This could go on for quite some time. Another time, riding a bus, at a stop across the street was a demure young Japanese woman in skirt. I noticed a gokiburi calmly walking up a wall near her &amp; unexpectedly like Bruce Lee she produced a waist high karate kick to squash that bug. She then returned to her demure young lady posture as if nothing had happened.

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• KP

  @KP11520 · 7 months ago

  I&apos;ll stick with TOP INSULATION. It&apos;s helps all 4 seasons from being miserable. I hate being COLD!

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• EV

  @evanlovestdwp · 8 months ago

  As someone who drives a car with heated seats here in Canada, a heated toilet seat sounds amazing! 😆

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