Ready to Conquer Your Arachnophobia?

Kajiki Town, part of Aira City, Kagoshima Prefecture

Welcome to Kajiki!  It’s a town in southern Japan and holds some incredible sights to see.  There’s the old road that used to be the gateway to Edo (now Tokyo) and the beautiful Ryumon Waterfall.  There’s another little gem here, a festival that occurs every year in the midst of the rainy season.  But you might not want to go there unless you want to cure your arachnophobia.

How Can We Combat the Cold in Japan?

The past couple days have been quite cold, and I've had to compensate by hiding under my kotatsu just to stay warm.  Problem is my legs are the only part of my body that I can actually fit under that thing.  My other heater has been failing to provide enough heat for my room, and that’s not because of the heater itself.  The reason is that the thin walls and floor of my apartment aren't insulated.  I said in a previous post that Japanese homes are built for summer, not winter, and that Japanese schools and students in this prefecture aren't prepared for winter.  That, in turn, affects students’ productivity in the classroom.  Therefore, I tried to think of some solutions.  Would it be possible to install insulation in the buildings?  What heating options are there?  And finally, how can Japanese students bundle up for the cold winter months?

Issues In Winter

This entry is going to be part of a series since what I have to say is going to be quite long.  I got this idea a couple days ago when I was at one of my schools.  Some things in Japan just irk me the wrong way.  But rather than just complain about the issues, I'd also like to find solutions to these "problems".  Don't get me wrong.  Japan has a lot of great things going for it, but every nation has its pros and cons.  So, let's begin with the issue then, shall we?

Every morning in winter, I wake up cold.  Now, some of you may call that shameful considering I'm Canadian, but please hear me out.  This is my third and last year living in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan.  It's so warm here that on the one day it snows, people freak out and barely make it to work in their tiny kei cars (small, cheap cars with tiny engines).  That snow day comes in December, but most years it doesn't come at all.  In late January/early February, the morning temperature drops to about -5˚C, which, for comparison, could pass a typical spring or fall temperature in my home country (except Vancouver).  Despite that, though, I still wake up cold.