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The worst thing about winter in Japan though is how cold it is. In
England houses are designed for the cold. But not in Japan! The walls
are made of wood that have no insulation in them.
The houses have no form of central heating, so the rooms are very
cold. The Japanese use kerosene stoves to heat up rooms. Which I think
is very amusing, as you have to open the window so that you don`t
die from the fumes. So any heat that the stove emits, goes out the
window! There are also many cases of people setting their homes on
fire as they forget to switch off the stove when they fill it up with
kerosene.
Another method of 'heating' in Japan is using a 'Kotatsu'. This is
a small table that has a heater built under it. You put a blanket
over the top of the table and then sit under it. This is also quite
interesting because only the bottom half of your body remains warm,
as your top half doesn't go under the blanket! But this is definitely
my favorite way of staying warm.
Driving in winter is also an interesting experience. The Japanese
do not put grit on the roads during cold and snowy nights. They put
running water onto the ice and snow! I asked one of my Japanese co-workers
why they did this, and they told me that grit damages the paint work
of the car. My reply to this was surely you did more damage to the
car if you crashed! My co-worker just gave me a very strange look!
Living through a Japanese winter is definitely an experience. It's
nice in the beginning to wake up to the beautiful snow covered mountains,
but after six weeks I'll be glad when it's over. Unfortunately it
won't stop snowing til April!
Becky
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See
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index | Becky's second diary
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