SGRA Kawaraban (Essay) in English
Xie Zhihai “Blind Spot in Japan：Chilly Houses in Winter”
All Japanese friends of mine, who are living overseas and travel to Japan for temporary visit, say that it is very cold in winter and hard to live in Japan. Though they are living in countries or areas colder than Japan, they say that Japanese houses (mainly their parents’ houses) are cold. I had assumed that everybody enjoy “Kotatsu de Mikan“ (taking a tangerine at Japanese foot warmer with a quilt over it). But this was not true. The countries where my friends are living are colder than Japan in winter, but they say whole houses there are kept warm. It is different from Japan where once they go out of a heated room, they have to walk through a cold passage and go to a cold lavatory. I remember it is colder in Beijing, where I have been living, in winter than in Japan, but it is too warm inside the room. In Japan, home appliances are developing day by day and new technologies are being applied one after another. Why are Japanese houses kept cold ?
According to my friend who returned from New York for a temporary visit, the owner of an apartment house has to keep his house over 20℃ as ordained by the state law of New York when outside temperature falls below 10℃ in winter (from October to May). And heating cost is included in the house rent. He praised highly that whole houses are already heated by central heating system when he comes home. I was surprised that such systems are ordained by law. I checked other cold areas neighboring New York and found that there are similar regulations for minimum temperature of houses not only in the states of the east coast of America but in Canada and England also. Such laws are passed considering the health of the population. There is no such regulation in Japan.
I thought I have found a pitfall of Japan where infrastructures are well-regulated and everything are completed. We can see television programs on health every-day and people are actually keenly interested in health issues. But it is still cold in houses in Japan.We hear the news very often that an aged person has died of heart attack in the bathroom or in the changing room. The cause of the heart attack is called “heat-shock” which is a physical condition resulting from a sudden change in temperature which happens when, after soaking in a heated bathtub, the bather goes out to the cold changing room. According to a report of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, it is estimated that more than 19,000 people have died yearly while taking a bath.
To avoid such accident, Japanese homes in winter should be changed. A thermalization (insulation) of Japanese houses should be required by regulations as in western countries. As costs of light and fuel are high in Japan, devices for controlling home temperature will be necessary. I guess the aged in Japan are hardy and can survive being cold a little. It is meaningless if they do not use heating appliances despite being provided. Above all, differences in temperature among rooms in houses are dangerous. It is important to keep temperature in each room at certain level. They say ”heat-shock” are scarce in Hokkaido where rooms are kept warm.
I think they should bring in easier style of living in winter and improve their styles. By doing so, the aged in Japan can be protected and decrease of population shall be moderated. There are a lot of health freaks in Japan which is said to be an advanced country. It is regrettable to lose a lot of lives too quick in every winter by such accident which can be prevented.
(A full-time lecturer, Kyoai Gakuen University)
Translated by Kazuo Kawamura
English checked by Mac Maquito