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Japanese houses are built for the summer. Inevitably the close positioning of the houses together brings shade and coupled with the total lack of heating anywhere in the building makes it ideal for the summer months when the temperature hits plus 35 degrees and I have the novel experience of going indoors to cool down. In the winter however you wonder just what were the Japanese thinking of?

In Western Japan where I am, you do not get snow like there is in spades in the north and the temperature is certainly warmer than England so far. I was told in the summer that Japan gets really cold. This is untrue. In England the temperature does not plunge as low as Sweden, Canada or Iceland but with icy northern winds it`s cold. Here in Japan we do not have those winds at all - the temperature is averaging at a relatively mild 10 degrees and still I sit in this house freezing.

The only heating we have is the kotatsu below and a small fire in the kitchen whose sole purpose is for boiling a kettle. The kotatsu is a heater placed under the low table in the main room with a large blanket covering it to put your legs under to keep warm whilst eating or watching TV. Step out from its protective womb and you are faced with an icy blast of cold air, you can then watch your own breath crystalise and shatter on the floor and feel your own body heat emigrate from your extremities to your vital organs to prevent the onslaught of hypothermia forcing you to rush back in.

In the bedroom there is not a bed but a futon which barely covers your body and is easily displaced whilst you sleep. It`s no wonder the entire Japanese race hasn`t died out from a epidemic of hypothermia, colds and flu viruses. I am accepting donations towards central heating installation, blankets and duvets. Please give generously.