While there are a slew of products to help people keep warm during the winter cold, such as sweaters, thick blankets and heaters, the Japanese has a home staple that should become part of Western homes as well, if only for the way the cozy couches make one never want to get up from their seat again.
They call this home item the "kotatsu," and this piece of furniture is a table that comes with blanket attachments and a heater underneath.
The kotatsu is believed to have originated in the 14th century as a cooking hearth, which later became a movable piece of furniture, according to Bored Panda. Since many homes in Japan have little insulation, the kotatsu became a centralized heating system where families would gather around to eat, talk, play games or hang out, according to Metro.
Today, some houses in Japan have floor insulation, thus production for kotatsu has declined, according to Nippon. Despite the improvements, some traditional Japanese still make use of the furniture in their modern-day houses, and kotatsus are still sold in the market in different sizes and shapes. Some are even available online at shops like Belle Maison or Rakuten.
Iranians also use a similar furniture and they call this the "korsi," according to Global Voices.
"It's hard to say when and how the kotatsu first developed in Japan, but it almost certainly dates back to the practice of having a charcoal fire in a sunken hearth (an irori) that would be used for cooking," said Nevin Thomson of Global Voices.
"Japanese homes did not have chimneys so the charcoal smoke was released directly into the thatch, and would have provided waterproofing over time," Thomson said, noting the addition of the blankets for the kotatsu became popular after World War II.
