Kotatsu
The Kotatsu ( Japanese. 炬 燵 or 火 燵 ) is a heated table in Japanese houses, which is still one of the most important sources of heat in winter and at the same time a place where family members are united.
function
Today's Kotatsu consists of three parts:
- a low table frame with an electric heater installed in the frame
- a table top
- a ceiling that is clamped between the frame and the plate and extends down to the floor on all sides, thus isolating the heat generated.
The Kotatsu is usually placed in a traditional Japanese room with a floor made of tatami mats (which are warmer than the “western” wooden parquet floor ). In order to warm yourself, you have to slip your body as deep as possible under the Kotatsu and under the Kotatsu blanket.
Heating in Japan
The majority of Japanese houses and apartments have no central heating and, in most regions, no insulation whatsoever, so that every household uses different island solutions to keep itself warm in winter. In addition to the Kotatsu, the Japanese use small oil stoves , air conditioning , electric or gas-powered radiant heaters or electrically heated carpets to heat . In addition, underfloor heating and the washlet (for the toilet) have recently become more popular .
Overall, however, the Kotatsu takes a different view of heating: In Europe, it should be warm where you move, i.e. in the extreme case in the whole apartment. In Japan you move to where it is warm, i.e. to a certain place.
history
The Kotatsu is said to have come from China , but has also had an old tradition in Japan since then. It used to consist essentially of a pit designed as a fireplace (most houses were only one story), in which heat was generated with charcoal . A table was placed over the hole over time. Kotatsu, which consist of a table with a recess underneath and a heater on the bottom of the same, represent a rather rare special form, the horigotatsu ( 掘 り ご た つ , literally: "Pit Kotatsu"), more common nowadays are Kotatsu that are on be placed on the flat floor and have an electric heater under the table top.
literature
- Saito Makinanji, Akune Suechu: 語 秀 句 用 字 用 例 辞典 』. Kashiwashobo, Tokyo 1997, p. 387.
- Esther MT Sato, Masako Sakihara: Japanese Now: Teacher's Manual (= Japanese Now , Vol. 4). Hawaii University Press, Honolulu 1990, ISBN 0824812484 , p. 6.
- Manfred Pohl: Japan (= Beck series , vol. 836). CH Beck, Munich 2002, ISBN 3406481043 , p. 26.
- Kristina Thomas, Barbara Haschke: Guest in Japan . Iwanowski´s Reisebuchverlag, Dormagen 2005, ISBN 3923975821 , pp. 168–169.
