Freezing in Japan

To heat or not to heat? That is the question. Seriously, Japan; especially Hokkaido is freezing right now! We have at least 3 feet of snow if not more and tonight it is -6.5 degrees C which is 20 degrees F for those of you who don't know celcius (ie everybody in the US). It is also windy, which it never is here in Otaru because the mountains block it. I was cold this morning, cold this afternoon, and freezing when the sun set. I have the temp in my apartment set on 20 C which is like 72 F and I am still huddled under a blanket and cold. What does this say about Japan? I'm seriously considering buying an electric blanket. In the US electricity is expensive and gas is cheaper for heating, but in Japan it is the complete opposite. They have to import the gas from elsewhere but they have nuclear powerplants all their own. I know quite a few people in the dorm (mostly chinese) who are using electric heaters rather than the gas ones that are built in simply because of the costs.

However I am not going to buy a heater since I've already had the gas one turned on. But I could be warmer at a lower temperature if I had an electric blanket. They're like 3,000 or 4,000 yen depending on brand, etc. But they only use about 1.25 yen an hour in electricity, that's like a penny! That is nothing in comparison to what I pay for my little gas heater per hour I have it turned on. And the stupid thing is right next to the sliding glass door! And there is no insulation in the stupid building so whenever you leave by the time you come back it's like 50 F in the room again. And you can't leave the heater on while you are gone because it costs so much! Japanese people are so concerned about the environment and stuff but they waste soooo much energy on heating and cooling with no insulation. And according to Karolina who went to Tokyo over christmas break it's even worse on Honshu (main island) than it is in Hokkaido! In HOkkaido at least I have double paned glass on the window, and everything is airtight as far as drafts are concerned. In Tokyo they don't have double paned glass, lots of walls are made of glass only, no insulation (of course), weak portable room heaters (at least this gas one is strong!), and nothing is air tight because in the summer they get lots of mold and damp due to the humidity & they want 'cooling breezes' in their homes. Gyah!

Well I found an article I'm going to post up here because it is hilarious and very true about Japan & it's heating systems. And I'm going to go out and buy an electric blanket. Mwahahahaha.

http://www.davidappleyard.com/japan/jp10.htm