Everyone complains about it and here's me saying it one more time: Japanese winters suck. It's not that the winters are very cold, or that the weather is especially terrible. Living in southern Japan means that winters are actually quite mild and we hardly ever get any snow, but thin walls, a lack of proper insulation and no central heating mean there's no escape from the cold. I come inside only to feel the same as if I were standing outside in the garden. In the beginning I relied on the electric fan heater I had set into the living room wall. I spent the entire winter trapped in the living room. Then last year I bought a carbon-filament heater (kind of like a long halogen bulb) for when I'm sitting at the computer in the other room, but that was a letdown. The heat is really concentrated and feels great, but only extends far enough to heat up half my body.
So this week I bought a new heater. I love how it looks! You fill it with kerosene and enjoy the warmth of an open flame. It's like having a portable chimney. And if there's ever a blackout, I don't have to worry about freezing to death because it doesn't require electricity! It even boils water for tea if you place a pot on top. The downside - having an open fire means I'm using up all the oxygen in the apartment and releasing fumes into the air. You're supposed to keep the window cracked to let fresh air in, but doesn't having an open window take all the heat away as well?
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