Kotatsu!!!!

[osprey_archer]

One of my friends has acquired a kotatsu, and it's probably fortunate for her that she lives an hour and a half away or I might be planning to move into her living room for the duration of the winter.

Despite this unfortunate distance, we have agreed that someday we MUST have a kotatsu party, which will of course consist of sitting around the kotatsu, drinking tea, eating pastries (she apparently owns one of those three-tiered pastry dishes? Truly, this party will be the height of elegance), and watching a Studio Ghibli movie - preferably one featuring a kotatsu, although upon reflection we were not quite sure if there is such a movie.

Thus I turn to you, dear readers! Is there a Studio Ghibli movie featuring a kotatsu? If there isn't we might just turn to one with a general atmosphere of coze (My Neighbor Totoro, or perhaps From Up on Poppy Hill?), but of course the Peak Experience would be to snuggle under the kotatsu as the characters on screen do the same.

Comments

[asakiyume]

LUCKY.

And yes! Yes there is! Omoide Poro-poro, which was released in English as Only Yesterday



Have you seen the movie? This scene is when the family is trying out pineapple (in the main character's memory of her childhood) and no one is very impressed.

[osprey_archer]

Yes! I've only seen Only Yesterday once, so it would be a good one to watch again, too.

[rachelmanija]

That is the best idea ever. I wonder if I could get one.

Today it is 37 F.

[osprey_archer]

IIRC, my friend said that she got hers on Amazon, and that it cost the earth, but tbh (I say, as the person who did not buy it) 1000% worth it.

bonus photo

[asakiyume]

Here are my two oldest kids sitting in a kotatsu, back when we lived in Japan:

Re: bonus photo

[osprey_archer]

You know, I absolutely loved the kotatsu experiencing it as an adult, but I think that if I had experienced a kotatsu as an adult I might have been spontaneously transported to a magical land through the sheer joy of the experience.

Or I might have simply accepted it as Part of Life, as children do! So perhaps there is something to be said for coming to the kotatsu experience for the first time as an adult.

[potofsoup]

it's actually quite easy to make one's own kotatsu! We did it with a flat heating panel and a table from ikea :)

But anyway...no kotatsu Ghibli comes to mind, but there's Calcifer in Howl's Moving Castle, which is warm, if snarky. Otherwise, I'd recommend Ponyo or Spirited Away.

[osprey_archer]

Up above, asakiyume mentions a kotatsu in Only Yesterday! Which conveniently I own, so we'll probably watch that.

Did you attach the heating panel to the bottom of the table?

[potofsoup]

yes! We got a 1-inch square rod of wood from the hardware store and 4 short angle brackets. We sawed the wood into 2 pieces of the right length, and made a bracket thing that held the panel to the bottom of the table. I think I saw the instructions on one of the reviews for a fake kotatsu on Amazon 10 years ago...

[anna_wing]

I have to say that I always wondered about the safety of the heating element, and the risks of burning one's feet...I strongly recommend Uniqlo Heattech socks, leggings, gloves, sweaters and down coats as a safely non-incendiary alternative.

[osprey_archer]

Generally speaking, if I have not specifically asked for a recommendation, I have no interest in recommendations. Please stop giving them to me.

[anna_wing]

My apologies.

[silverusagi]

I practically live in front of a space heater--obviously I need a kotatsu.

I have a three-tiered glass pastry serving dish! I leave it out all the time and put fruit on it. Why have a fruit bowl when I could be ~fancy?

[osprey_archer]

Don't we ALL need a kotatsu. True contentment is the kotatsu life.

YES, I love your three-tiered glass fruit display dish! (Probably a good way to ensure fruit doesn't get lost, too, as it sometimes does in fruit bowls.)