HOW THE JAPANESE KEEP WARM

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The heater for such a "warmth pit" can be either electrically or charcoal fired. The latter is still very common in Japan and the most common of all kotatsu charcoal burners is the hibachi. Not the squat, black barbecue that goes by the same name here in America. A real kotatsu hibachi more closely resembles a huge vase or flowerpot made, I suppose, of fired and kiln-glazed clay. They're quite beautiful.

These hibachis are fueled with charcoal dust and a small ring of the dust burns slowly-without flame-in the heater's middle. Various grates or tripods can be put over the fire, so that food may be cooked or water boiled on the hibachi. For the most part, a kettle of water is kept simmering on the unit to humidify the room.

One very strong word of warning is in order here: Do not get the idea that a simple, small, charcoal-fired hibachi is just the thing you need to heat your "standard", heavily insulated Western house. Such a burner gives off dangerous gases that can dissipate quite harmlessly from a relatively well-ventilated Japanese home but that same gas might well build up to lethal levels in your tightly sealed building, and asphyxiate you.

The floors of Japanese dwellings are traditionally made of wood and covered with tatami straw mats approximately one and a half inches thick. (The hole in the floor-if there is one-used for a kotatsu by those who can afford such refinements, is covered by a perfectly fitting wooden top and tatami mat during the summer.) In the winter, everyone I know in Japan puts newspapers between the straw mats and the underlying wood for extra insulation (the idea works exceedingly well). Year round, the tatami is springy and comfortable and wonderful to live on.

If Japanese homes are rather lightly constructed and, sometimes, better ventilated than we usually consider appropriate Nipponese clothes are certainly designed for winter comfort. Traditional garments-such as the haori, which resembles a short kimono-are constructed in the same layered manner as the kakebuton I've already described.

Common haoris come in various thicknesses (some are made of black silk and are primarily ornamental) and usually don't have as much loft as a kakebuton. They're heavier, however, and covered on the outside with cotton instead of nylon. The garments are worn both indoors and out, and some even have an extra space in the back for a baby. Lucky, warm baby!

And the haoris used in the winter are warm for a very simple reason: You need something to protect your back and shoulders when the lower half of your body is snugly heated by a kotatsu. That's if you're a man. Women-who are supposed to stick only their hands and knees under their host's kakebuton when they go visiting (Oh misery. Japan is not the place for a liberated lady.)-appreciate the haoris' ability to warm their backs, shoulders, and tucked-under toes even more.

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