It’s high time for Kotatsu table!
Posted by: kirin on 
Nov 18th, 2009 | 
Filed under: daily life
“Tatami room + Kotatsu + mandarin orange = winter!”
This is the basic image for most of Japanese people to have more or less as an image of winter. These days this image maybe waned off because young Japanese people tend to avoid Tatami room and is replaced by wood flooring room as well as Kotastu is replaced by floor heating system.
When I moved to my apartment where I live now, I could select either way;
-Remain Tatami room,
or
-Change Tatami room to wood flooring room.
But I had the above image, as a Japanese it’s a bliss to put my whole body but face into the Kotatsu to warm myself in the winter, because that’s how I spent winter in my life before I moved to this apartment. Thus my choice was of course “remain Tatami room” and I brought my Kotatsu table set from my room. (Many people nowadays enjoy Kotatsu in a wood flooring room. Considering lying down, however, I prefer Tatami mat to wood flooring because it’s soft. Carpet is also soft but it’s a bit dusty and I don’t think it’s hygienic to breathe 20cm above the carpet when I’m lying down in the Kotatsu.)
If you are familiar with Japanese anime or manga titled “Sazae-san” or “Chibi Maruko-chan” I guess these are describing good old days of Japan and then, Kotatsu must be there around October or November up to March. It’s a sort of symbol of peaceful Japanese family sitting in a circle to chat while eating mandarin oranges.
You’ll get what I mean from this episode from Sazae-san.
It was my first experience to live in an apartment made of concrete with much insulation, I couldn’t imagine how warm inside the house in the winter. I was brought up in a wooden house without enough insulation, it was only 2 or 3 degrees centigrade inside the house in the morning of winter season. (The house is next prefecture to Tokyo, and so it’s still warmer compared with some other parts of Japan, though.)
After I spent some winter seasons in this apartment, I found I didn’t need Kotatsu any more, because even in February, without heating there’s over 16C or something. With floor heating system, it’s sometimes getting too hot in a daytime. So it was about 5 years ago I said good-bye to my Kotatsu set and the very Japanese way of enjoying winter with it. But I can see now is the time to start up Kotatsu for warmer and more comfortable winter at most of other houses in Japan. 
There is a saying in Japanese, Zukan Sokunetsu (頭寒足熱) meaning, head cold, legs warm. When you study or work in a cold climate, warm air from air conditioner is not good. It just warms the air around your head or face and that just makes you sleepy. That’s why Kotatsu is for us. Warming your legs while keeping the air around your head or face cool, you can improve efficiency, and you don’t really feel cold while your legs are warmed. If you feel your upper body cold, you can just wear more.
There is a western type of Kotatsu, too. But I definitely like Japanese one!!
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November 18th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
That has got to be one of the best inventions ever.
November 18th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
That is so cool! I would like something like that to keep me warm here… it is very cold where I live in the winter!!
November 18th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
Kotatsu, wooden house, Chibi Maruko-chan <3
I could try kotatsu, when I visited Japan in april. It was soooooo nice!
I 100% agree with that Japanese saying. My mother also frequently says, that I should open the window often when I'm studying (in winter or on colder days), it helps to focus my mind.
November 18th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Ohhhhwww! I want one!
November 18th, 2009 at 8:36 pm
so…
where does the heat come from?
i have heard of kotatsu before. and they always show in manga,
but it still confusing.
is there a box or something under the table? that makes it warM?
November 18th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
Hello Kirin. Thanks for posting this. Of course I know kotatsu very well from anime and manga, but the first one looks very comfy. In the manga it looks like a thick blanket covering the legs.
I love eating them, even if they are rather sweet.
It's electric heaters these days, no ? I wonde how you could keep it hot in the old days ( wood stove ? charcoal ? )
2- 3 degrees in the morning sounds very cold. I haven't had it that cold in the morning since my army days.
At worst it drops to 10 degrees in the bedroom, which is why it's so hard to get out from underneath the eiderdown blanket in the morning , haha !
And I have never seen the European style one !
Mandarines are traditional in winter time here too
The French have a liqueur made with them : Mandarine Napoleon, but I find it too sweet tasting. I Like the ones flavored with oranges better, like Cointreau or Grand Marnier. They're excellent as an after dinner apéritf to warm you up in winter
If I ever visit Japan in winter ;we can sit at your kotatsu in a nice cold room and I'll treat you to a nice Grand Marnier.
November 19th, 2009 at 2:24 am
Yes, and sorry I skipped explaining that part. :p
There's a heater installed under the table. This page may lead you for better understandings. (http://www.rakuten.co.jp/e-kaguya/533997/801283/)
November 19th, 2009 at 2:35 am
Yes, it's electric heater that's inside Kotatsu. (sorry I forgot to explain that part.)
In our ancient days, we used Irori to warm the house. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irori)
But I've never had this experience. We can still experience Irori if we visit some old houses in rural areas in Japan today, I guess.
Paraffin oil stove, Kotatsu, air conditioner, floor heating system…I think Japanese people use either one of these in the winter today. We don't have a fireplace like the U.S or Europe, and there's basically no chimney for Japanese houses.
Japanese styled Kotatsu maybe too small for European men, and you may feel your legs cramped in a narrow space inside Kotatsu. ^ ^; But I do want you to try it when you have a chance in the future!
November 19th, 2009 at 2:38 am
Hi cinnamon girl,
Wow, you've already tried it out! Then you know what I mean. ^_^ As you say, in some cold areas people keep using Kotatsu until April or something.
November 19th, 2009 at 2:40 am
You don't have Kotatsu in the U.S? I was wondering how it is accepted by western culture. Maybe western style is OK for American people? :p
November 19th, 2009 at 2:41 am
Have you tried it yet? ^ ^
November 19th, 2009 at 3:11 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by BlogLinkJapan and Kirin, Rodrigo Trevisan. Rodrigo Trevisan said: Interesting! RT @junkeet: Have you tried Kotatsu (Japanese furniture) in winter season? http://bit.ly/BPPCa [...]
November 19th, 2009 at 3:26 am
No we don't… at least not that I have seen! I actually have not seen this thing before you posted it
I do not know if Western culture has this…
November 19th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
Maybe you don't have it in the U.S. Even if Japanese zen style is accepted, Kotatsu is not accepted yet. :p
November 19th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
Awww…. I'm kinda envious. I don't get to experience such stuff here because I'm in a tropical island. >_< I've seen Kotatsu in dramas and animes too
I think it's a representative of the Japanese culture. Something uniquely Japan. Japanese should embrace it!!
November 19th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
Oh gosh, I've never seen tables like that, but they are cool!
November 20th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
Hi Kirin!
I have never had the chance to try using a kotatsu. From your time living in Australia you would know that we don't have them here at all! But it seems like such a lovely, comforting thing to have in Winter time.
November 21st, 2009 at 1:16 pm
The kotatsu looks like mandarin orange too! Haha… It's so cute.
But I think the western styled one looks really silly. -___-! Anyway, I find it hard to sit on the floor for long period of time. Is there any unspoken rules when we sit in the tatami room? (I think we're not suppose to step on the seams right?)
November 22nd, 2009 at 1:17 pm
Several years ago I envied tropical climate and I wanted to move to somewhere without cold winter. But now, I think I like Japan having 4 seasons. We can enjoy different foods and fashion at every season.
November 22nd, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Hi Cat,
Since Japanese zen style got popular in the world, I thought such Japanese items became available. ^ ^ ;
November 22nd, 2009 at 2:40 pm
Usually when we use Kotatsu, we put a cotton mat on the Tatami mats which is larger than the table size or diameter of the table or even more than Kotatsu blanket. Some people put zabuton (Japanese style cushion, flatter and harder than western cushion) over the cotton mat and sit on it. So we don't have to worry about the seams of Tatami.
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:30 am
same as mintz…tis is certainly something we miss out living in tropical country
i can sense dat bliss and happiness when the whole family is gathered around kotatsu enjoying a hot pot of shabu shabu in winter >_<
November 23rd, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Come travel in Japan during winter season and have that experience, as well as Onsen or hot spring! It's a bliss!!
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