Viewing page 39 of 240

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

SNOWFALLS are scarce during a Japanese winter but, nevertheless, the winter months are cold and biting. What the Japanese lack is=n mechanical heat, like furnaces and stoves, they more than make up for by wearing takusan clothing. Underclothing, shirts, and jackets are at least doubled. Fortified by all this extra apparel, they are quite content with only the heat of the hibachi.

The charcoal container actually does little more than warm the hands, so the Japanese also have a footwarmer, called a kotatsu. This is a small, square box of charcoals outfitted in a wooden framework. As a toe heater, it is suteki (like a canceled military inspection -it's "wonderful"). And even on the coldest days, as they sit well-bundled in clothes, warming their hands over the hibachi, warming their feet over the kotatsu, and snuggled under the quilts, the Japanese are as warm and comfortable as the richest tenant of the Waldorf!

Some Americans, however, used to the circulating heat of a gas furnace, may not appreciate the invigorating atmosphere of the hibachi.

34

Transcription Notes:
These words are dark/bold: tatkusan, hibachi, kotatsu, suteki