Japan is cold

Reports from back home keep mentioning extremely cold weather in Oregon, to say nothing of Boston. I saw pictures of light snow (or was it freezing rain?) in Portland today, and while we haven't had any of that here, it's still damned cold.

One thing winter visitors won't have to deal with is rain. Winter is the dry season here, at least on the Pacific side of Japan. In the middle of the day it's probably more comforatable here than it is back home at the moment, but only for a few hours. We get up to about 40-45 degrees fahrenheit around 1pm, but not for long. Nighttime lows are around 28F.

But here's the thing: our houses don't have central heat. No thermostats anywhere, no furnace, no heatpump, nothing. We use a couple portable heaters to keep the rooms bearable. I cook breakfast downstairs wearing a thick winter coat. So whine all you want about walking through a cold parking lot when you're running errands. At least your house and workplaces are heated.