Japan is very modern in a number of ways. But they do not have central heating. Electricity, like everything else, is very expensive. So we keep all doors shut between rooms and try to turn heat off when we walk to another room for longer than just a minute. That means that whenever we walk into a room, it is cold. I have a feeling that when it is very hot here, air conditioning will be woefully inadequate.
So, how do you stay warm in Japan? Come in July and leave in September.
How do you stay cool in Japan? Come in November and stay until April.
I can't think of any other way.
But we are getting smarter. You turn the space heater on in the bedroom an hour or so before you want to go to bed, turn down the bedding so it can get heat on it, and close the door.
You get your clothes out of the ice closet and bring them into the living room where the heater is running. Let them hang there for a few minutes or wave them close to the heater. Then you can stand to get dressed in them.
You face the space heater near the bathroom with the door open so you can stand to sit on the toilet. If you have to go to the bathroom during the night, too bad. It's going to be really cold.
You stand by the heater a lot. You wear leg warmers. You layer your clothes more than you ever have. You exercise just to warm up. You wrap up in blankets to read. You wish you could lie down---on the ceiling where there might be some heat.
I'll let you know if I discover anything else.
Well, before I published this blog, I discovered (heard it through the grapevine) something else. When it's hot in Nagoya, there are spiders. Lots of them. And no one kills them. Anywhere. And there are millions of mosquitos, and they leave welts on you the size of half dollars. And there are a whole bunch of other bugs.
Have I been complaining about being cold? Never mind. I didn't say a thing!!
Oh, I almost forgot. Hair salons: Bell Hair. God's Hair. (That's quite a claim!)
