January 16, 2022

Jan 17, 2022

We recently got a kotatsu.

For anyone who doesn’t know, a kotatsu is a heated table with a blanket. The heater is attached to the underside of the table and has a fan that circulates the warm air, and the blanket is removable for the off-season (which is as loosely applied as Christmas-light season).

A kotatsu table with a blanket — The glorious kotatsu

I grew up with a kotatsu (that has since ceased functioning and been turned into a regular table). I have a clear (though possibly false) memory of my mom leaving me with my uncle and disappearing into the crowds of Shinjuku station, then coming back with a giant box that somehow made its way to the US with us. To this day, I’m still not sure how she managed to get it shipped to our apartment.

The kotatsu often served the functions of any furniture we lacked: breakfast and dining table, homework desk, bed (okay, we did have beds, but the kotatsu was more comfortable). When I was in college, we couldn’t afford a real kotatsu, so my boyfriend at the time (now husband) made use of his engineering education to make one. He bought a dining table and space heater, sawed off the table legs, precariously balanced the heater on the underside of the table (don’t do this at home), and threw a blanket on top. We kept it through the end of the year, but being a fire hazard and general abomination, our makeshift kotatsu was later disassembled and released back into the recycled-college-furniture ecosystem.

Being able to buy a luxury like a kotatsu and having an office, a dining table, and other furniture in a space where everything fits feels a bit like a financial milestone. During college and growing up, we had time but not much money or space. Now, with every subsequent year I’ve been working, I feel like I’m gaining ground on stabilizing my financial future, on eking out my own place in the world that isn’t yet another cramped apartment, but often at the cost of time. Despite that trend, I’m hoping to find a place in between where I can afford a kotatsu and actually enjoy using it for leisure rather than as yet another working desk. I think part of that will involve giving up some things, like turning down the thermostat a degree or two in the winter and spending a bit more time under the kotatsu, which really works perfectly fine for me.

If you read this far, let me know how you pinch pennies, especially as a freelancer or while working from home. Any replies to this email go to my inbox, so if I have enough replies, I’ll include some of those tips in a future newsletter.