… Well, the featured image might be a bit of an exaggeration. I do live in Tokyo, which is one of the warmer parts of Japan.
But it caught your attention, didn’t it? 😉
That said, even if winter in Tokyo isn’t too bad (it rarely ever snows here!), I suck when it comes to the cold. I can’t stand it. Other Malaysians might welcome it, but I actually prefer Malaysia’s warm, stable weather. Winter in Japan basically reduces me to a curled up prawn underneath my blankets, willing the cold to go away.
Unfortunately, the cold doesn’t actually go away until a few months later. So till then, I have to use multiple ways to cope with this unwelcome season. Both in terms of the cold and other problems that it brings.
Bear in mind that these tips are geared more towards non-snowy winters, or ones with very light and brief snow. Much like the winters in Tokyo. Should I have more experience with actual snow (I’ve only experienced it in Nikko for two days), I will write a post about that too.
Now, moving on. These are not by any means sure-fire ways that solve my winter troubles, but they do make the season a bit more bearable.
Changing my skincare products
The one way I can tell that winter is approaching (besides the calender, of course), is by seeing the way my skin responds to the weather. This is because the closer it gets to winter, the drier my skin gets–and when it gets dry enough, it starts to get tight, itch and flake. At one point during my first winter here, my face looked almost scaly, like a snake. It’s not dire, but it’s not a very comfortable situation to be in either.
What I learned from this is that instead of piling on even more skincare products on my face, it is better to change to a heavier formula. I typically have oily skin, but even my skin type cannot take the winter season. So come the cold, I switch. Doing so did wonders for my skin–it probably saved me from developing a couple of early wrinkles!
Aside from the obvious products for my face, I also invest in a good cream or lotion for my body. My face is not the only part that gets scaly during this time of year!
Heater
I’d never used the air-conditioner for anything other than cooling the room until I lived in Japan. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the air-conditioner has a heating function.
It took me a while to utilize this feature, though, on account of the fact that I couldn’t read Japanese at the time. Even using the remote control for the air-conditioner was a struggle! I just randomly pressed buttons until I finally asked for help from the building manager. Bless his heart for being so patient with silly foreigners like me.
Bonus: Another type of heater I like is called the kotatsu. A kotatsu is a type of low Japanese table covered by a heavy blanket, with a heater fitted underneath. I believe that whoever invented this is a genius. Unfortunately, the only time I got to enjoy this was at a Middle-eastern restaurant here. It is apparently a rarity in restaurants, what more ones that serve foreign food. Honestly, I never wanted to leave the table!
Extra layers
This one is obvious. As it gets colder, it is time to pile on the layers. Unless you have dragon hide for skin, you will definitely want to dress warmly. I’m one of those people.
Luckily, I didn’t have to buy too many winter clothes. All I had to do was bring over the winter clothes I used to wear back when I lived in Australia. These were mostly enough to help me hang in there for a bit, but I still had to buy more in the end. Limited space in my luggage and all that jazz. Here are the items that help me get through the Japanese winter:
- Heat tech
- Coats
- Sweaters
- Cardigans
- A leather jacket
- Gloves
- Scarves
- Knitted clothes
- Thick leggings
- Thick socks
- Winter pyjamas (I own three sets! One is pink and fluffy.)
- Boots (I know these don’t count as clothes/layers, but they help. A lot.)
For reference, Uniqlo is a great place to quickly buy all the winter clothes you need, especially heat tech. I cannot recommend their heat tech enough.
Oh, if you’re going somewhere that’s especially cold, I recommend getting a beanie as well. Do not underestimate how much the cold can make your ears hurt. I learned this the hard way in Nikko, Tochigi.
Heat packs
Heat packs (or heat pads, as they are also called) are some of the best things to have during winter. I discovered this when… I think when I was somewhere in Tochigi, about to turn into a block of ice. Anyway, what happened was that I decided to try the heat packs my parents had given me a couple of months earlier.
Best. Decision. Ever.
I opened up the colourful packets and stuck them under my sweater; one in front, one at the back. Moments later, the packs started doing their magic and spread heat throughout the areas. I was cosy warm despite the brutal winter chaos on the outside.
Best part is that these things can stay heated for almost a day. They’re fairly cheap too, so they’re well worth buying!
Wearing a facemask
This point sounds redundant thanks to the state that the world is in, but it is one that makes freezing temperatures so much more bearable. The thing with this time of year is that my face and especially my nose feel like they’re frozen half of the time. With a mask in the picture, though, it helps trap the heat on my face and thus keeps me warm.
So masks? One of my favourite accessories ever. I actually enjoy wearing them.
Thicker blankets and bedsheets
I’ve learned to change blankets and bed sheets according to the season. Thus far I have three types: thin, slightly thick and very thick. I use the thin blankets and sheets during summer; slightly thick during spring and autumn; and my thick, fluffy ones during winter. They’re a bit of a pain to store in my tiny Tokyo apartment, but in many ways it is worth it.
It is just much easier to sleep when you’re not sweating buckets or curled up into a ball from the cold.
Especially this year, when the majority of our time is spent indoors. Might as well make our time inside nice, right?
Reducing showers
This is actually related to the first point, but it deserves its own lil section on this post. I know that as a Malaysian, two showers a day is the minimum. Anything less than that is gross, right? Right. At least that is the case in our country, where we’d be sweating buckets within minutes after a shower.
Trust me, I tried taking showers twice a day here, but found that it aggravated my winter skin condition. It got so bad during my first winter here that my itchy skin literally turned black and even bled a little from the dryness. And of course, my scratching. Because it was just so bad. The itchiness from the dryness made the scratching relentless. I just couldn’t help myself.
In the end, I made the decision to take a maximum of one shower a day. This helped improve my condition tremendously.
Indeed, I definitely felt gross at first, but as I got used to it, it wasn’t too bad. The air is dry during winter, which means no sweating–and thus, much less of a need to shower as frequently.
