The Japanese way to a warm winter
In the mountains of Japan, families got through snowy winters with no central heating at all. This book shows you exactly how they did it, so you can feel warm and cozy in your own home this winter without a bigger heating bill.
Do you sit in your coat in your own kitchen every January?
You turn the thermostat up, and the bill goes up with it. You turn it down, and you sit under a blanket wondering why the house still feels cold. Your feet are cold. Your bed is cold. And the coldest hour of all is three o'clock in the morning.
I know that feeling. When the heating bills started to frighten me, I went back to the way my grandmother kept our family warm in a snowy farmhouse in Nagano, Japan. I have never been warmer, and my bills have never been gentler.
Here is what I learned: in Japan, we don't heat the whole house. We heat the person.
The idea at the heart of the book
Your thermostat stays at a safe, comfortable setting. You simply stop pushing it higher, and put the warmth where it does the most good.
The "three necks" Japanese grandmothers always cover first, the warm middle, house clothes, warm feet and warming winter food.
Why the cold comes from underneath, and how to build a Japanese winter bed that stays warm from bedtime until morning.
The Japanese kotatsu, and how to turn one room into a cozy winter nest, while you stop the drafts and cold floors around it.
What's inside
Look inside
Large print, short chapters and plain words. Every chapter ends with three small things you can do that same night.
Also included
Simple Japanese comfort food made with ingredients from any supermarket: miso soup, hot pot, rice porridge, ginger drink and more.
One small job each evening. By the end of the week, your home will feel like a different place.
Room-by-room checklists, a shopping list, worksheets, and a safety card for your refrigerator. Print them and write on them.
Meet the author
I grew up in an old wooden farmhouse in the mountains of Nagano, Japan. The snow came up past the windows every winter, and there was no central heating at all. My grandmother kept our whole family warm with a quilted table, a hot-water bottle and a set of rules she never broke.
I came to America in my twenties and I have lived here ever since. Since my husband passed away, I live alone in an older house where the winters are long. I keep it warm the way my grandmother kept the farmhouse.
I wrote this book for every woman who sits in her coat in her own kitchen in January. There is another way, and it is gentler than you think.
Setsuko Hayashi
Warm and safe
This is not a book about suffering to save money. Your home stays at a safe temperature, and every tip about heaters, heat packs, hot-water bottles, electric blankets, the bath and power outages follows the advice of the organizations that know best.
Safety guidance from the U.S. Fire Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institute on Aging, the U.S. Department of Energy, and Japan's own consumer safety officials.
The Japanese Way to Stay Warm All Winter Without Turning Up the Heat
Secure checkout through Payhip. Your download link arrives by email straight away.
Read the book and try the habits in your own home. If it isn't right for you, get in touch within 7 days of your purchase, using the contact details in your order email, and you'll get a full refund.
No. It is a digital book (a PDF) that you download straight away after you buy. You can read it on a phone, tablet or computer, and you can print any pages you like, such as the checklists and the safety card.
As soon as your payment goes through, you'll see a download button, and the download link is sent to your email too. You can download it again from that email whenever you need to.
Yes. The book was designed in large print with plenty of space on every page, and on a tablet or computer you can make it even bigger.
No. Most of the book costs very little or nothing at all. There is a whole chapter on about twenty inexpensive dollar-store items that really work, and the book is clear about the few things worth spending a little more on for safety, like a carbon monoxide alarm.
Never. The book follows the National Institute on Aging's advice that older adults keep their home at least 68°F. The idea is to stop pushing the heat higher, and put the warmth where you need it: your body, your bed and the room you live in.
Not at all. It's written in a woman's voice, but everything in it works for anyone who feels the cold, men included.
No. Every Japanese word is explained in plain English, and there's a glossary at the back. Everything is adapted for an ordinary American home.
You're covered by a 7-day money-back guarantee. Get in touch within 7 days of your purchase and you'll get a full refund.
Put a blanket under your sheet, warm your bed before you get in, and close the curtains when the sun goes down. That's just the beginning.
Instant download · 413 pages · 7-day money-back guarantee