A Kotatsu is a low table with a built-in heater common in many Japanese houses. Each Kotatsu has a base and a table top. The Kotatsu is often paired with a removable quilt which is placed between the table top and the base during the colder months and stored away for the warmer months.
Kotatsu come in many shapes, sizes and colors. Rectangular and square seem to be the most common, but there are round ones as well.
The quilts vary in color and design, so whether you are looking for something for you, your children or your parents, you are sure to find something that will suit your needs. Most Kotatsu are low, however, taller kotatsu meant for one are also available.
What is the point of the Kotatsu?
While Traditional Japanese houses are beautiful, they are neither well insulated or very air tight. The small gaps between the windowsills and door frames let the air outside travel freely inside and vice versa. Because of this many owners of traditional houses will convert a few rooms from tatami and shoji to flooring and doors to save on energy costs. Having a kotatsu which keeps the heat under the table is a lovely treat when it turns cooler outside.
When was the first Kotatsu used?
The Kotatsu has a history dating back over six hundred years to the Muromachi period. The very first Kotatsu consisted of a wooden frame that was placed over the open-hearth fire, irori, and a blanket then placed on top of the frame. Unlike the modern Kotatsu, however, there was no table top.
The Japanese characters for Kotatsu suggests that they were first probably used by people associated with Zen Buddhism in the ancient province of Suruga; modern day Shizuoka. The original shape of the kotatsu frame was said to have been inspired by a stand used for the carriages of the day.
Over time portable Kotatsu with ceramic pots and small wooden frames were developed during the Edo period. A pot, containing heated coal, was placed in a wooden frame and a blanket placed on top of the frame. This allowed people to be comfortably warm in any room of the house for the first time until the invent of the electric kotatsu at the end of the Taisho period.
What is the Kotatsu industry like today?
In the 1990s, Japanese companies were producing over 1,700,000 units a year. In the 2003, Japanese companies produced around 280,000 units. Once the domain of large Japanese corporations, the modern Kotatsu industry is mostly made of smaller and mid-sized businesses offering new types of Kotatsu that appeal to the lifestyle of the modern Japanese. Why not try one out for yourself this winter?