Kotatsu

I love 'central heating' in the UK during winter. It keeps warm everywhere inside the house and it's very practical.

On the other hand, the heating system in Japan is not as good, even when winter is so cold. The windows are not double-glazed. If you come back home from work, a cold room is waiting for you. It takes time to get a room warm and quick to get cold if you turn the heating off. Because Japanese houses are basically made of wood. Nowadays, it's much better than before, but when I was a child, it was really hard to get up in the morning while winter. Someone needs to turn the heating on. I struggled to change clothes from pajama in a morning. In front of the oilstove was a premium spot.

However, there is a great heating system we boast of. That is a 'Kotatsu'. It's a wooden table frame covered by a heavy blanket, and a table panel is on it. There is an electric heat source underneath. The weak point of this is that once you sit there, you would feel less and less like getting out and become lazy. If you stand up, you may be asked to bring someting along the way by others.