What does one do against it? Well, there are of course the various ecological (3 jumpers on top of each other and hand-knitted socks from your (Swedish??) grandma) and not so ecological (heating up to the max) options that we can apply at home.
In addition, there are places like the office (and endless fights with
your colleagues or the 'facility manager' regarding "too warm" or "too cold") or the gym (skip the machines and go straight into the steam bath) or - for people in beautiful Switzerland - skiing on 3000m in bright sunshine (ok, it's cold there, but on a sunny day you won't freeze, unless your skiing sucks ;-).Here in Japan, however, people contribute massively to global warming, as their houses are generally badly insulated and most houses have no central heating system. That's mostly because during 9 or 10 months out of 12 in a year (provided you don't live in Hokkaido - 北海土）it's actually not really cold. Quite the opposite, especially in summer.
Consequently, most houses are equipped with air condition systems that also can produce some warm air, or gas ovens. Alternatively, mobile electric heaters or carpets, as well as little gas stoves are popular.
As windows generally haven't got double glassing and walls in many cases are almost paper thin (compared to good old German or Swiss massive house building traditions) people send their gas or electricity bills soaring and the 'green bill' off the cliff.
Side note: To save parts of the ailing Japanese economy (and the planet), the Diet should pass a bill forcing everyone to replace their windows with double glassing and properly insulate their houses/buildings. (I was always wondering why my main door is made of metal - naturally it would just pass all possible warmth in my place through to the outside).
In Germany for instance (where people are mad about being ecologically friendly), this has been started (and continues so) ages ago...
Well, but let's move away from this debate and consider a more pleasant option one can make use of in freezing Japan: The Onsen (温泉).
Now, unlike a Sento (銭湯), i.e. a regular public bath that conventionally heats up the water provided, an Onsen would have its water from a natural spring. That water is usually quite hot,
as - you might remember - Japan is a volcanic island. Furthermore, the water would contain all kinds of things (like sulfur) you'd normally not consider for your regular water. ;-)In the case of Onsens however, it's considered extremely healthy; and since these facilities have been around for a very long time and (near Nagano) even the local monkeys enjoy it, I'm sure it IS actually really good for your body (and your mind).
Luckily, I recently had the pl
easure to visit one of those Onsens together with my fellow classmates and some of the teachers. Unlike the one I know from Kobe (where the Onsen is actually located in the middle of the city in an eight storey building), this Onsen is in the middle of the Japanese-mountain-country-side.Fantastic!
One leaves the madness of a 30 million people metropolis and finds oneself in a 30 people staffed Onsen-Hotel to seek (and find!) tranquility, warmth and health...
The place I've been to is called Manza (万座) Onsen - a real pearl among the Japanese Onsens. The place has been run and developed over many decades and is managed by the very gentle Ono-san (大野さん) and his family.
Now, not only has this Onsen hot springs with different water specifics and temperatures. One can also enjoy these 24/7. - No joke. You wake up at 4am and can't fall asleep again? No problem. Just get up, go downstairs and sit in one of the wooden tubs/pools for as long as you want. If you haven't fallen asleep in the tub (and drowned) you'll certainly fall asleep after that treatment in no time.
They also provide wooden pools outside, i.e. open air. And let me assure you there are only a few things better than sitting in hot Onsen water at 2am in the morning, heaps of snow around you and millions of stars above you to glance at...
On the way back and forth you'd be wearing a Yukata (浴衣) like I and my friends did, sometimes casually stopping by the green tea dispenser.
But it doesn't stop there. The Onsen has also a mountain next to it, which is just waiting for skiers and snowboarders to make use of. In summer, this place must be a paradise for everyone who likes hiking.
We also visited
Kusatsu (草津), a sometimes suspiciously German looking town in the middle of the mountains there. Main feature is a huge well area in the middle of town, where every minute 5,000 liters of 70°C water are gushed out, making it Japan's largest.They also have a very beautiful shrine that is supposed to protect the travellers from and to the town and spa.
Well, what could possibly happen then? :-)
With this I let you go back to your (hopefully) warm places in this (hopefully not too) frosty winter...
