Winter in Japan?

Since coming back from the States on our trip, I have learned a lot about Japan and ministry. One thing that I have learned about Japan is....it actually gets cold here! My previous times in coming to Japan have been the months of June and July. I arrived this time in the middle of May and returned to America for our trip in September. Since coming back in October we had a couple weeks that were rather cool but the last few days have warmed back up.

Let me set the scene for you. I live in a house that has one air conditioner in one room which broke during August. Well, turns out houses don't only have central air but they don't have central heating. I never thought about this until I started waking up in the mornings cold and would have to wear slippers and a sweatshirt to stay warm. My room is also a corner room of the house. Two walls face the outside and the one wall is single pane glass on two sliding doors to go outside. The third wall is the entry way which doesn't stay warm because the door is always opened and their is no insulation on the door as their are many little gaps where you can see outside. My fourth wall is the staircase. I soon started thinking, what do they use for heat in the winter. My first thought was electric heaters but I soon found out they use kerosene gas heaters. Using electric heaters is too expensive. Since I have asked, I have heard some horror stories about safety in using a kerosene heater. A slight adjustment from central heating.

Then my mode of transportation is bicycle. Most people I know stop riding their bikes in the winter and start driving. Well, that doesn't happen here so much. Everyone still uses their bikes throughout the winter for transportation. So I need to learn how to stay warm on a bicycle as it becomes colder and one of the keys is layers. Japanese dress in layers. Even during summer they always have at least two shirts on at one time. Now in the winter they start to wear more. My first reaction was, why don't they just wear one big sweater? I soon found the reason. Depending on where you go depends on the temperature inside. So, nice restuarants and shopping places have central heating but if you go to houses some can be warm and others freezing cold. If you took my advice, you where one big sweater on your bicycle to stay warm but you end up in a building with heat which you then end up sweating in because it is so hot. It is a nice system wearing the layers, because if you get hot take one shirt off, if cold, put one shirt on.

One special treat is that they always wear scarfs. Thanks to a couple nice friends of mine I have a wonderful bright orange scarf to wear on the cold days.

If you come to Japan in the winter, here is some advice. Wear layers, bring a scarf, bring warm slippers, and be ready to haul a kerosene heater with you from room to room in the house.