It has been cold as a witches titty here in Tokyo recently. We have not gotten any snow but it was a sign that winter is now full on here in the land of the raising sun. As usual it will more than likely not snow in Tokyo this winter. Yet, it will get colder than a nun on Sunday. I do not see anymore warm days coming for several months. Those icy days of January will be here before we realize it.
I usually adjust the cold weather in Japan pretty well. Despite my hate of cold weather I can deal with it pretty good in most cases. Winter in West Virginia can get really bad. A person living in the mountains of West Virginia can expect three or four brutal blizzards of year. It is not uncommon for an entire village or town to be completely shut down due to a snow fall. The only places I expect this kind of thing happening in Japan is in the northern region.
Winter is Tokyo does have its pitfalls. The wind can be really hard to deal with at times. The wind whips around the buildings and smacks you in face with an unforgiving sick joy what only old man winter can appreciate. While I am drugging off to work the sting of the wind hitting my face puts me in a right proper shitty mood. Hell, during the winter I actually look forward to getting on the train and warming my cold ass on the heated seat.
There is also the pure magic joy of no central heat in Japan. Now, I have lived here for a while so I am used this fact of life in Japan. The Japanese have come up with some interesting ways to off set the lack of central heat. The method to keep warm I like the most is the kotatsu. It works really well to keep me from freezing to death in my own apartment. During the winter in Japan, few things beat a cold night than a bottle of sake, warm soup and a gal warped around ya while bundled up under a kotatsu.
Anyway, I wanna hear what all of you think of winter in Japan and how yall keep warm.
5 comments:
dude, i'm in the 'other' hemisphere right now so i am working on ways to cool down.
but, your method of warm sake, a kotatsu and a nice gal to keep you warm sounds like a good plan to me!
I've always disliked kotatsu as a way to keep warm because I hate sitting still for a long time in order to stay in the vicinity of the heat. These days, a lot of Japanese people use "hot carpets". They're the equivalent of an electric blanket for the floor, and I'm sure they're not very energy efficient. In fact, I don't know any Japanese people who don't use these carpets these days, though I personally do not have one.
As for me, I use three blankets when I sleep and cover my head. While awake, I wear three layers of clothing (long-sleeved T-shirt, shirt, and sweater) and if I'm at the computer, I use that oft-maligned invention, the snuggie (but it does work). I also drink copious amounts of hot tea and homemade tomato soup through the winter, but the truth is that hot beverages aren't supposed to help. They make your body try to cool down from the addition of hot liquids ingested. Candles are also rather nice ways to add a bit of heat (and you can hold your hands over them to warm them up).
winter? whats that? ^_^
i like the girl part....do0nt know bout the sake and kotatsu though.
I'm usually living in a pretty small apartment, so I just run the heater and it does the trick for a small one-room place.
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