By request, this is a post about kotatsu. While learning the “that/which” conjunction, my students taught me about many Japanese things. The  example in their textbook (New Crown 3) describes a kotatsu:

There was a kotatsu table at my apartment when I moved in. It just looks like a coffee table, but the top is detachable (so you can get the cover under it in the winter).  The lesson was perfectly timed. The weather was getting colder, so I decided to get a cover. This is my kotatsu:

One detail that is glossed over in the textbook is how the kotatsu keeps his family warm. There is a heater inside the table.

The kotatsu is an example of an approach to heating that is very different in Japan than in Canada. In Canada, it’s kind of assumed that every room will be heated. I suppose it is important to keep pipes from freezing and causing damage. We also take the insulation of our buildings much more seriously.

In Japan… I can only speak from my experience. In my kindergarten there are kerosene space heaters that are placed in the middle of the rooms.  At my main school each classroom has an air conditioner that doubles as a heater, but there is a rule that they are not to be turned on until January (although the staff room heater has been on… I will not question it!).  The front doors to my school are open wide all day. The classroom walls are primarily made up of single pane windows (which I understand to be the poorest of  insulators) and doors that open to outdoor hallways. If you’ve watched any anime that take place in a high school, you probably know what I’m talking about…. but for everyone else:

As for homes, I am mostly familiar with those of other English teachers. Usually there is only one room with a heater (usually it is not the bedroom or the kitchen) which is only heated during the time it is being used. But some of my teachers have told me they have the kerosene heaters for the middle of the rooms in every room in their house, so perhaps every room could be heated if you were willing to invest in the right equipment. Still, this heating would be limited to the time the room was actually being used.

The kotatsu is part of this “just heat the small area where you are” approach. If you are eating, reading, using the computer, you receive localized heating. Why should the room  you are in be hotter than 16°C if your toes are warm?  Why should other rooms be using energy to be heated if they are not being used?

This is also good for the warm clothing industry. Layering has taken on a new meaning for me. Right now stores are filled with so many house-coat-like products, pillows designed to cover every part of your body, and turtleneck shirts… turtlenecks everywhere.

When I think about environmental issues and trying to reduce our energy consumption, I wonder what we can learn from the kotatsu.  The kotatsu would only be useful if accompanied by a lifestyle/behavioral change, but these are the type of changes we need to face the challenges ahead.