The day before, I was at a meeting where only two of us were not wearing our winter coats and scarves. So I was determined to figure out how to be warm all day. And I choose a rainy day.
Waking up under the thick covers in my thick jammies, I was warm.
Now I understand that the minimum number of layers (not counting coats) is 3. So I tried 4 layers.
Thick cotton turtleneck, thin wool sweater, down vest, and large cotton Japanese sweater. And on the bottom, tights and a very long skirt and boots ($20, from China).
And for outside, down coat and wool scarf.
This worked in Kyoto, and also in Shiga Prefecture where I went for my research. Shiga is colder, and it was raining there too.
At the end of the day, I was still warm, and after dinner tucked under the kotatsu to get very very warm before getting under the covers.
Some Japanese have scarves the size of small blankets. If it gets colder, I will try that.
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Keeping warm in Kyoto
The temperatures are not much worse than DC. And we do not have any snow yet. But not much heat is used indoors. And we are out a lot -- waiting for the bus, bicycling, hiking, walking to the store, walking around temples and shrines. The Japanese are under the same weather constraints.
So how do you keep warm in Kyoto?
Here is what is being sold now:
Kotatsu -- low coffee table-type table with a heater on the underside -- cover it with a quilt, and cozy up under it.
Padded jackets (no, not with sleeves that tie). How else would you keep your upper body warm when you lower body was under the kotatsu?
Long underwear -- lots of it, including extra layers around your middle, where the body is supposed to be particularly vulnerable to cold.
Layers -- lots of them. I saw a woman recently with patterned socks, scrunchy ankle warmers , patterned leggings, and shorts. On top they have 3 or 4 layers, and a big scarf too.
Hot water bottles -- all sizes from less than a liter (for a baby?) to over 3 liters. There are plastic and metal ones. And there are covers for these -- including one that looks like a teddy bear.
Electric carpet -- at least you will be warm sitting in that spot.
Kerosene heaters -- used indoors as a space heater -- smells bad.
Japanese bath accessories -- washing thoroughly outside the tub, then soaking is a great way to get warm. Even when I walk the 4 blocks to nearest public bath, I am still warm when I get home and still warm at bedtime.
Fleece --made in China and very cheep.
Down sweaters -- likewise probably made in China, not too expensive, and everyone has one (now including Will and I.
They still are not running the nuclear plants, and energy imports are terribly expensive. And there is just a long term conservation mindset. Here at work, the corridor is not heated, nor is the bathroom (except for the toilet seat). We each control our heat (though it cannot get all that hot), and we turn off the heat when we leave for the day.
So how do you keep warm in Kyoto?
Here is what is being sold now:
Kotatsu -- low coffee table-type table with a heater on the underside -- cover it with a quilt, and cozy up under it.
Padded jackets (no, not with sleeves that tie). How else would you keep your upper body warm when you lower body was under the kotatsu?
Long underwear -- lots of it, including extra layers around your middle, where the body is supposed to be particularly vulnerable to cold.
Layers -- lots of them. I saw a woman recently with patterned socks, scrunchy ankle warmers , patterned leggings, and shorts. On top they have 3 or 4 layers, and a big scarf too.
Hot water bottles -- all sizes from less than a liter (for a baby?) to over 3 liters. There are plastic and metal ones. And there are covers for these -- including one that looks like a teddy bear.
Electric carpet -- at least you will be warm sitting in that spot.
Kerosene heaters -- used indoors as a space heater -- smells bad.
Japanese bath accessories -- washing thoroughly outside the tub, then soaking is a great way to get warm. Even when I walk the 4 blocks to nearest public bath, I am still warm when I get home and still warm at bedtime.
Fleece --made in China and very cheep.
Down sweaters -- likewise probably made in China, not too expensive, and everyone has one (now including Will and I.
They still are not running the nuclear plants, and energy imports are terribly expensive. And there is just a long term conservation mindset. Here at work, the corridor is not heated, nor is the bathroom (except for the toilet seat). We each control our heat (though it cannot get all that hot), and we turn off the heat when we leave for the day.
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Nara as a respite from crowds
Nara was the capital before Kyoto -- from 710-794, and offers the largest wooden building in the world -- containing a giant bronze Buddah. It also is home to about 1000 sacred deer that are all over hoping for a handout of deer crackers (purchased for 150 yen). The sellers of the deer crackers seem to have reached a truce with the deer such that the deer do not go directly to the source, but look for a handout from a customer.
There are also hundreds of stone lanterns that stand taller than humans -- leading the way to the 8th century shrine. This was rebuild every 20 years until the late 1800's. We hiked up there in the fading light of the end of the day.
We went to Nara this past weekend to escape the crowds of leaf peepers creating neighborhood gridlock in Kyoto. Our first stop was the Isui-en garden. Every inch was exquisite! The view backs onto the hills, making the garden appear very large. I was particularly taken by the very small tea house (2-tatami mat). I took enough pictures to think carefully about building one in Arlington....
The gardens take constant care:
Brushing with bamboo
Reveals deep moss and buds for spring
Underneath the leaves
We were still there for dinner, and found a restaurant where we were tucked into a tiny private booth for 2 with cushioned banquettes and a door closing us in. The food came in courses -- grilled rice balls, sashimi, fried tofu in light broth, and some pork thing for Will.
There are also hundreds of stone lanterns that stand taller than humans -- leading the way to the 8th century shrine. This was rebuild every 20 years until the late 1800's. We hiked up there in the fading light of the end of the day.
We went to Nara this past weekend to escape the crowds of leaf peepers creating neighborhood gridlock in Kyoto. Our first stop was the Isui-en garden. Every inch was exquisite! The view backs onto the hills, making the garden appear very large. I was particularly taken by the very small tea house (2-tatami mat). I took enough pictures to think carefully about building one in Arlington....
The gardens take constant care:
Brushing with bamboo
Reveals deep moss and buds for spring
Underneath the leaves
We were still there for dinner, and found a restaurant where we were tucked into a tiny private booth for 2 with cushioned banquettes and a door closing us in. The food came in courses -- grilled rice balls, sashimi, fried tofu in light broth, and some pork thing for Will.
Light-ups and leaf peepers
Growing up in New England, there was a mild influx of people wanting to come see the fall colors, leaf peepers. Well it is over the top here in Kyoto. My host indicates that you can hear accents from all over Japan, and there have been tour buses lined up along our street every day for several weeks. The traffic jams and overcrowded buses are putting the place into weekend gridlocks in our part of town.
But there is no question that the colors are spectacular!
A few koi shaped leaves
Hanging from the dark branches
Swimming upstream.
The cherry leaves are almost gone, but they were a grand array of orange, tangerine, persimmon, rust, red, and other shades, leaf by leaf. The momiji (Japanese maple) are mostly red/scarlet/burgundy. But some of their leaves are yellow and orange -- even mixed on the same tree and mixed on the same leaf. The ginko are bright yellow, and they place a pile of sunshine at the base of each tree.
The ephemeral nature of the leaves is emphasized by the constant sweeping.
Bamboo broom chasing
The cherry leaves -- awaiting
Tomorrow's wind.
It seems to be good etiquette to keep the leaves off the sidewalks, and it is a constant effort.
In the evenings, the various temples have "light-ups" with lights on the trees. It is quite pretty, and the lights are not not adding color, but highlighting what is actually there. The temple near us must be quite famous for its light-up -- there are security guards at each intersection for several blocks around to keep out the cars, and make sure no one gets run over by the oversized tour buses that are negotiating the narrow streets.
At several locations we have seen posters that track the stage of the momiji leaf colors at each of about 20 temples! Each day some industrious person adds stickers where needed to track the progress from green to part red to red, then rust and gone-by.
But there is no question that the colors are spectacular!
A few koi shaped leaves
Hanging from the dark branches
Swimming upstream.
The cherry leaves are almost gone, but they were a grand array of orange, tangerine, persimmon, rust, red, and other shades, leaf by leaf. The momiji (Japanese maple) are mostly red/scarlet/burgundy. But some of their leaves are yellow and orange -- even mixed on the same tree and mixed on the same leaf. The ginko are bright yellow, and they place a pile of sunshine at the base of each tree.
The ephemeral nature of the leaves is emphasized by the constant sweeping.
Bamboo broom chasing
The cherry leaves -- awaiting
Tomorrow's wind.
It seems to be good etiquette to keep the leaves off the sidewalks, and it is a constant effort.
In the evenings, the various temples have "light-ups" with lights on the trees. It is quite pretty, and the lights are not not adding color, but highlighting what is actually there. The temple near us must be quite famous for its light-up -- there are security guards at each intersection for several blocks around to keep out the cars, and make sure no one gets run over by the oversized tour buses that are negotiating the narrow streets.
At several locations we have seen posters that track the stage of the momiji leaf colors at each of about 20 temples! Each day some industrious person adds stickers where needed to track the progress from green to part red to red, then rust and gone-by.
Thanksgiving in Japan.
Too many things to see and do to spend the day cooking. Oven the size of a shoebox. Great need for vegetables in our diet. Very small table. Serving 6 in the very small apartment.
With these constraints, we had a delicious and felicitous Thanksgiving dinner:
First course -- salad (what?! -- something green for Thanksgiving?!)
Second course -- Fried oysters. Oysters were very much a part of Liz and my New England Thanksgiving history.
Third course -- Fried Chicken (with thanks to Col. Sanders), boiled potatoes, steamed kabocha (Japanese pumpkin), two cranberry sauces (cook-off with Liz and Will), shitake mushrooms, homemade rolls and butter. Thanks to Liz and Dave for importing the cranberries.
Fourth course -- 2 small pumpkin pies in premade tart crusts (L&D imported cans of pumpkin and evaporated milk) and a small apple/cranberry/walnut cake.
So here is the sequence on the oven -- pie number 1 (with the filling mostly precooked on the stove), pie number 2 (similarly pre-cooked), apple cake, rolls.
We were particularly thankful for family, present and distant, living and passed on -- except for Dale (age 2) who was thankful for playdough. He spent a fair bit of time with imaginary playdough -- I was not going to give him any real play dough to grind into the tatami mat. Kids were good with the tatami mat, shoji, and hanging kimono. And they loved playing in the storage closets.
And the Haiku to capture it--
Harvest matsuri
With Hiroshima oysters
and cranberries
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Bicycles in Kyoto are really everywhere
In spite of almost no bike lanes, and lots of places without bike parking areas, bicycles are really everywhere. Now that I have my own (hand-me-down) bicycle, I see this in a whole new light. I have been working to understand the implicit "rules of the road."
Bicycles are usually ridden on the sidewalk, and there seems to be an overall "keep left" plan. There is frequently a moment where the eyes of two head-on riders are locked, and each is deciding who will veer left (or right). On some crosswalks there is a marked area for bicycles, but it is usually ignored. If the sidewalk gets busy with bikes and people, it seems to be OK to ride in the street for a while. It does not seem to matter if you are going with the cars or against the cars.
Having my own bike is freeing -- I see more, and can do errands and make stops easily. For example, I
found a glass shop quite near my office that is now cutting the acrylic panel for our prototype solar dryer.
"Mama chari" is the term for a "mother's" bicycle -- the front wheel of the bike is smaller than the back wheel so as to fit a carrier for a small child up front where Mom can keep an eye on the baby. I also see father's riding these bikes.
And another variation -- I saw a mother walking, wheeling her bicycle with one child (maybe age 7) sitting on the seat, another in the front carrier, and another in the back carrier. I have also seen a mother riding with 3 children -- one in a front pack, one in the front carrier, and the other in the back carrier!
Bicycles are usually ridden on the sidewalk, and there seems to be an overall "keep left" plan. There is frequently a moment where the eyes of two head-on riders are locked, and each is deciding who will veer left (or right). On some crosswalks there is a marked area for bicycles, but it is usually ignored. If the sidewalk gets busy with bikes and people, it seems to be OK to ride in the street for a while. It does not seem to matter if you are going with the cars or against the cars.
Having my own bike is freeing -- I see more, and can do errands and make stops easily. For example, I
found a glass shop quite near my office that is now cutting the acrylic panel for our prototype solar dryer.
"Mama chari" is the term for a "mother's" bicycle -- the front wheel of the bike is smaller than the back wheel so as to fit a carrier for a small child up front where Mom can keep an eye on the baby. I also see father's riding these bikes.
And another variation -- I saw a mother walking, wheeling her bicycle with one child (maybe age 7) sitting on the seat, another in the front carrier, and another in the back carrier. I have also seen a mother riding with 3 children -- one in a front pack, one in the front carrier, and the other in the back carrier!
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