The Story of Kotatsu: Keeping Warm and Cozy in a Japanese Winter

Prior to living in Japan, I had a rather hazy image of it as an exotic land with a sultry climate. Summer in Japan is indeed hot and humid, but unless you live on the southernmost subtropical islands of Okinawa, you will find that Japanese winters are very, very cold.

Prior to living in Japan, I had a rather hazy image of it as an exotic land with a sultry climate. Summer in Japan is indeed hot and humid, but unless you live on the southernmost subtropical islands of Okinawa, you will find that Japanese winters are very, very cold. And unless you live on the northernmost island of Hokkaido (where having an effective heating system is a matter of survival), you are likely to spend your first winter in Japan perplexed and bemused at how cold it is inside your apartment. Despite Japan’s many modern conveniences, central heating and proper insulation have never really caught on here, and draughty buildings with inadequate heating are the norm. There is however, a traditional item of Japanese furniture that provides an ingenious solution to this problem. Rather than heating an entire apartment or room, you can simply heat the area where you are sitting. This life-saving item of equipment is called a kotatsu.

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