Happy Winter Solstice! From now on the days can only get brighter. Actually, despite the short days it has been pretty bright here in Japan anyway. In Illinois it is cloudy nearly all winter long and many people fall into a kind of winter depression. I hear that the daily highs in Illinois are about -10C lately, while it is still +10C at least in Tokyo. Recently we had some 16C days. People almost constantly comment (complain?) about how cold it is here, but honestly it is not that cold outside.
The problem is that it is almost the same temperature inside. Yes, they don't tell you this in the orientation to Japan or any of the books that I have read, but Japanese people don't generally use heaters in their houses. I sort of knew this fact, but it never really hit me until recently. There are no centrally heated housed in Tokyo. I hear rumors that there are up north, but this area is still living the life of old.
Here is how it was explained to me. If you have ever seen an old Japanese house (in one of those samurai shows, for instance), you know that the doors and windows were literally paper-thin. People generally left their houses open all winter long. The people were one with nature. Something like that. Japanese houses generally have a strong frame and roof, but walls are not so important. Interior walls are often merely sliding doors that can be removed at will. At any rate, this was the state of things back in the old days, and so it is now.
I think conventional wisdom in America used to be that one should leave windows open all winter to let the "fresh air" in. However, at some point, Americans decided to close themselves off from nature, and use incredible heaters and air conditioners in their houses, cars, and places of business. It is a waste of energy, but we are comfy.
I am really going on about this heater thing, but I think it is interesting. So, our house is generally pretty chilly except for the living/dining room. All of the rooms have separate little heater/air conditions (which cost about US$200 each), but I get the feeling that it is best not to use it too much. We have what is known as a kotatsu in the living room. It is a coffee table with a heater attached underneath. We all sit around it and warm our feet and hands as we watch TV. We also have a heated carpet and I have a heated blanket in my bed (along with about 25cm of blankets on top of me). The toilet seats are heated so that one does freeze his or her butt off. I can understand the desire to conserve energy as it is very expensive here in Japan. However, I wonder if all of these other things don't add up to a bigger bill than just a plain central heater.
Anyway, winter is the time for Christmas and New Years as well. These two holidays are about the opposite of what they are in America. In Japan, Christmas is celebrated as a day for parties with friends and lovers, while New Years is a time for the most important family gathering of the year. I must admit that I am not really fond of the way that non-Christians celebrate Christmas, but even in the U.S. one finds a number of heathens celebrating what has become a capitalistic secular holiday. In both countries stores are decorated and trees are erected. Despite the fact that they have no chimney, Japanese children expect Santa to come visit them. Recently Santa can even accept Christmas wish lists via cellular phone or pager.
Not everyone gives presents on Christmas, but it is general practice to send New Years gifts to people who you owe favors to, etc. My host parents browsed through the Matsuya catalogue (equivalent to the Sears catalogue for Americans) and decide who would get sheets or butter or ham this year. I asked my mom if it was a pain to get lots of gifts that you don't need, but she disagreed. Generally people give things that everyone needs, she says. We have a whole refrigerator full of cheese and goodies already. I think that most of the Japanese gift-giving is a little wasteful. Many gifts go unused, or are regiven to someone else. Anyway, that is sort of another subject.
And so I am enjoying a mild winter in Japan. My parents will be here tomorrow to spend the holidays with me. We plan to do the whole tour of Japan (meaning Kyoto and Tokyo, basically) as well as go to Tokyo Disneyland, of course. I should have plenty of good stories after two weeks with them. Until then, Happy Holidays. Yoi o toshi o...