Japanese lifestyle ~9~ heating system 2

  I introduce the Japanese system again.
In Japan, the floor heating may be one of the heating system that people
use for heating.
  But I don't have it in my house.
  On this column, I would like to introduce the''Kotatsu'' ''Hibach''and ''Irori''.
Kotatsu is quite popular tool to heat our leg.
  Look!! This is the Kotatsu.(This is not my room.Photo is from Wikipedia)

The underside is like this.

In winter, Japanese people like to eat ''mikan(Japanese orange)'' when we warm

our leg. Mikan is like this. It is sweet. I like mikan.

 

 People used to use charcoal as a heat source for many years ago.Nowadays, all of the
heat source must be electricity.
 Here is Hibachi.

 This is traditional heating system. People put on charcoal inside.
I don't often see this Hibachi. But I think people still use this type of heating system.
For a long time ago, this is used among Samurai,a nobleman and noblewoman.
And it is said a lot of people start to use this in the Edo period.

 This picture shows how to use the Hibachi. Please take note. Usually, woman do not
tie their hair like this now in Japan!! ^ ^ ;  This is so old stylish hair. Only when woman
wear kimono at special day, woman tie their hair like this.

 This is ''Irori''.

 I don't see at all in the district where I live now. But I think people who live in Tohoku area
(the area where there was huge earthquake 3.11 in 2011)still use this type of heating system.
And people who live in the other area may use Irori.
This is traditional style. I have seen this only on the photo.  I want to take a look Irori.

Thanks for reading!

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Japanese lifestyle ~8~ heating system

  My pen friends told to me that it is snowing in Europe.
It is unbelievable for me. In this morning, the temperature is 17.3 degree
here in Japan. In my hometown, we don't have snowing so much in a year.
Maybe once or twice a year. But the area such as Niigata(north side of Japan)
and Hokkaido is famous for the great amount of snowing.
  It is not unusual in those district for more than 3 meter of snow to
accumulate on the ground. So people who live in those district have to
clean the snow frequently. Those task must be so hard.

  I would like to introduce how Japanese people heat the room
in our daily life.
 I think the heating like below is the most popular in Japan.The maker of my
heating is MITSUBISHI. This is electrical heating.

And, I sometimes use this type of heating.

It gets heat more quickly than the heating above.
And, people also use this kind of heating below.

This type of heating needs the oil.
  Tomorrow, I will introduce the other heating system.

Thanks for reading!

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Don't do this in Japan ~ 3 ~ Cut in the line

  I give you advice in case you travel in Japan.
Mostly, Japanese people do not say directly about what they think in mind.
In our culture, Japanese avoid saying what they think in mind.
So, you must be hard to know what Japanese people really intend.

 While you stay in Japan, you would visit Tokyo or Osaka. And you would
use the train many times there.
 Have you seen a lot of people making the line at platform?
In Japan, the train stop exactly at the place where people make the line.
(A lot of foreign people get surprised to see that)
When people are waiting for the train, people care the turn of the people
in their mind.
I think Tokyo is so crowded, so you need to be nervous about that.
You don't have to be nervous in the country side.

  When I travel in Europe, I was surprised because someone cut in the line more
frequently than Japan.
  So I realized that Japanese people would keep the strict rule about making the line
more than other culture's people.
 So, I think you should care not to do so, when you visit to Japan.

You should take care about this especially when you get in the train and
when  you get in the elevator.
And...when you get in the ramen shop!!! (In Japan, you have to
make a line  if you want to try the popular ramen.)

Thanks for reading. Please give me any advices.

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Japanese habit/custom ~3~ when you can't sleep at night

When you can't sleep at night, how do you cope with the situation?
I introduce the Japanese style on this column.

  In Japan, people say, ''Imagine a stock farm where there are many sheep,
and count the number of sheeps''

 So, you start, 
Hitsuji ga ippiki   One sheep...
Hitsuji ga nihiki   Two sheep...
Hitsuji ga sanbiki Three sheep...
(Hitsuji = sheep)

 This task is quite boring, so you will fall asleep shortly.
People told me when I was kid. Every Japanese people must know this
way. But I don't know how many people practice this way.

Are there any way like this in your culture?

Japanese habit/custom ~2~ kita makura

Kita = the north
Makura = a pillow

  On this column, I introduce the sleeping style of Japanese people.
In our culture, it is said that  when you go to sleep, you should not
lay with your head toward the north.
  It is called ''kita makura''.
In Japanese culture, it is inauspicious.
  I follow this habit. So, when I sleep, I lay with head toward the east.
And when I go to travel, I sometimes mind the direction of bed.
(But mostly the place where I am staying is unfamiliar for me so I don't know
which is the north ^ ^ ;)

 But why is that?

 I heard from my parents that the Buddha laid with his head toward the north
when he died. This habit has been allowed only when people die.
 If you travel to Japan, the bed of your hotel may not be laid with your head
toward the north.

Thank you for reading.
I would like to introduce about Japanese religion little by little.

Japanese food ~9~ cha~hi~

I got interesting drink! This drink is called ''cha~hi~~''
This drink is new to Japanese people as well.
The company in Kyoto created this drink some years ago.

And this beverage is made by mixing ''green tea'' and ''coffee''!
In Japanese, we say,
green tea = cha
coffee = koo hii  ← pronunciation of Japanese
So, this drink is named by mixing ''cha'' and ''koo hii''

The color looks like coffee. But the liquid looks like tea.

The taste is like... it is not like coffee, it is not like green tea...

It is hard to express.

I don't know if it is good taste.

The only thing I can say is that this drink is mysterious....

Thank you for reading!

Japanese habit/custom ~1~ A bow while they talk on the phone

  I would like to introduce a funny habit of Japanese people.
If you come to Japan, you may have the chance to see Japanese people
make a bow while they are talking on the phone.
 Japanese people make a bow when they meet someone.
We do that for greeting. We do that when we appreciate to someone.
And we also do that when we apologize to someone.
 Maybe there are a lot of meaning when we make a bow.

   Japanese people sometimes make a bow while we talk on the phone.
Maybe you see this in the house. And older people sometimes do this.
Japanese business man or woman may be trained to do so.
(But in my case, I have never been asked to do so in my company)
 But why do we make a bow when we talk on the phone?
While we talk by phone, we can't see the other talker. So, it seems nonsense.

 Japanese people may think it shows the politeness to the other person.
That behavior is not visible for the other person. But he or she may believe
the other talker would understand his or her politeness.
Japanese people may believe the talker's mind would affect to the voice unconsiously.
So we treat politely even if the other talker don't see you.

 That is my understanding.

  If you talk about this habit to Japanese people, they may feel it is funny.
Because Japanese people also think it is strange.
When I saw it in my childhood, I used to see it so strange.

Thank you for reading!