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Several months into the pandemic, most people with the option of telecommuting have gotten pretty used to doing so. With widespread availability of a vaccine increasingly looking like something that’s going to have to go on the wish list for 2020, though, working from home is going to get a chilly wrinkle in the coming weeks as the weather gets colder and colder.
In Japan, a common way of staying cozy and toasty at home is with a kotatsu, a low table with a heater attached to the underside. Traditional kotatsu are designed to be used while sitting on tatami reed floor mats. Japanese furniture brand Aeon Style has designed a new style, though, which applies the warmth and comfort to a desk, and throws in a few technological upgrades too in order to create a lineup of work-from-home kotatsu desks.
These longer-legged kotatsu are high enough to slide a chair under, letting you get the ergonomic benefits of full back and arm support while keeping your legs inside a blanketed pocket of heated air. Since telecommuting means you’ll be working with one or more electronic devices, plugging the kotatsu in not only powers the heater, but also provides a source of energy for the desk’s own power outlet and multiple USB plugs, so you can keep your laptop, smartphone, or any other work equipment topped up.
Working from home obviously means being separated form your coworkers, but if your spouse or roommate is also telecommuting, you won’t be the only professional in your workspace. So in addition to the one-person kotatsu desk, there’s also one that’s big enough for two.
And if you want more space still, there’s also a four-person high kotatsu, which is really more of a dining room table than a desk.
The one-person kotatsu desk is priced at 25,800 yen, the two-person at 27,800 yen, and the four-person at 30,800 yen here on Aeon Style’s online store. Blanket prices also vary by size, and start at 7,000 yen. Just be warned that kotatsu are so cozy that once they go in, many people don’t want to come back out until spring.
Read more stories from SoraNews24.
-- How to make open-air dining in winter awesome: Take the kotatsu outside!
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- https://soranews24.com/2020/10/01/a-winter-work-from-home-essential-from-japan-the-kotatsu-desk%E3%80%90photos%E3%80%91/
6 Comments
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Ah_so
It's funny to see what is essentially Edo-era technology being repackaged as an innovative new product for 21st century home office workers.
If there is one thing that Japan really needs to get its act together on it is properly insulated houses. The myth of Japanese exceptionalism applies to their weather also, and Japan seems to think that there are no lessons to be learned from other countries - actually modern membranes can make a huge difference in humidity and allowing a house to breathe to limit rot. You can have insulation and a dry house.
NCIS Reruns
They're so cozy you doze off, don't get any work done and aren't sleepy at bedtime. I had one for my first five years or so in Japan. When I think of them, I think of peeling mikan and sipping scalding hot green tea. They're so 1960-ish.
nandakandamanda
They look kind of neat, and a great way to save on heating bills.
Serrano
A winter work-from-home essential from Japan: The kotatsu desk
Hey, these will be great for doctors, nurses, hospital workers, truck drivers, delivery workers...
Patricia Yarrow
Too bad Kenzo never designed better looking blankets for these things. Great idea, soul-flattening presentation.
Mr Kipling
Nice and cozy feet and legs but a freezing cold upper body.
Central heating anyone?