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Kotatsu

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The history of the kotatsu begins in the Muromachi era in the 14th century. 

Its origins begin with the Japanese cooking hearth known as the irori. 

Charcoal was the primary method of cooking and heating in the traditional Japanese household and was used to heat the irori. 

By the 14th century in Japan, a seating platform was introduced to the irori and its cooking function became separated from its seating function. 

On top of the wooden platform a quilt was placed, known as an oki which trapped and localized the heat of the charcoal burner. 

This early ancestor to the modern kotatsu was called a horigotatsu. The word horigotatsu is derived from the kanji meaning ditch, meaning torch or fire, and  meaning foot warmer. 

The formation of the horigatsu was slightly changed in the Edo Period in the 17th century. These changes consisted of the floor around the irori being dug-out into the ground in a square shape. 

The wooden platform was placed around this, making a hearth. The blanket was then again placed on top of the platform where one could sit underneath to stay warm. 

The moveable kotatsu was later created originating from the concept of horigatsu. This kotatsu came about with the popular use of tatami matting in Japanese homes. Instead of placing the charcoals in the irori, they were placed in a earthen pot which was placed on the tatami making the kotatsu transportable. This more modern style kotatsu is known as the okigotasu. 

In the middle of the 20th century charcoal was replaced with electricity as a heating source. Instead of having the moveable earthen pot of charcoals beneath the kotatsu, it was possible to attach an electric heating fixture directly to the frame of the kotatsu. Thus, the kotatsu became completely mobile with electricity and was mainstreamed in the Japanese home. 

Locals worried by ice, snow falling from Tokyo Sky Tree

The builders of Tokyo Sky Tree have announced some of the technologies that have been installed to deal with the winter weather, after it was confirmed that chunks of snow and ice had fallen from the upper portion of the structure to the street below between January and March this year. 

Fuji TV reported Sunday that local residents are concerned about the danger of falling bits of ice, some of which have landed within a 400-meter radius of Tokyo Sky Tree. 

A spokesperson for Tobu Railway Company, which operates Tokyo Sky Tree, said that on the observation deck, the outside of the windows has been coated with a special kind of glass that is designed to prevent snow from falling to the ground. 

Embedded in the glass, developers say, are 3,000 tiny electric heaters that are designed to melt the snow and stop it from building up, Fuji TV reported. 

Kim Jong Il dead

SEOUL--North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has died, North Korea's state radio and television reported in special broadcasts at noon Monday. He was 69. 

Kim, general secretary of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, died at 8:30 a.m. Saturday on a train while on his way to give "field guidance" to workers, the reports said. 

He died of physical and mental strain from overwork, the reports added. 

North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim suffered a serious heart attack on Saturday. 

The same day, the agency made an official announcement that Kim's third son, Kim Jong Un, 28, would succeed his father as leader. 

But it is highly likely that North Korea will become unstable during the process of power transition, according to observers. 

Referred as North Korea's "dear leader," Kim maintained a dictatorship in the country for 17 years following the death of his father, Kim Il Sung, in 1994. 

After he was named his father's successor in a general meeting of the party Central Committee in February 1974, he steadily solidified his power base until his father's death. 

Kim had held key posts such as Workers' Party of Korea general secretary; the Central Military Commission chairman, which is the country's top post; and supreme commander of the Korean People's Army. 

Despite North Korea's economic strain, Kim Jong Il took the lead of the country's nuclear and missile development programs. 

Under his leadership, the country carried out two nuclear tests, in October 2006 and in May 2009. 

Kim held summit talks with former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in 2002 and 2004, in which he admitted for the first time that North Korea had abducted Japanese nationals. 

In a special broadcast by Korean Central Television, a female announcer clad in black Korean traditional dress reported Kim Jong Il's death. Kim's black-rimmed portrait was shown during the news. 

According to the "medical conclusion" on the leader's death, which the KCNA reported, Kim had received treatment for heart and cerebrovascular vessel failures for years. 

His funeral will be held in Pyongyang on Dec. 28 as a state event, and his body will be placed in the Kumsusan Memorial Palace, where his father's embalmed body lies, the news agency said. 

North Korea has been accelerating moves to establish a system for Kim's successor, positioning 2012 as the year for "opening the grand gate toward a great, prosperous and powerful nation." 

On Sept. 28, 2010, Kim Jong Un was elected as a Central Committee member at a conference of party delegates and named a vice chairman of the party's Central Military Commission, a new post, at a general meeting of the committee. 

He also was named a general in the Korean People's Army. 

The transition of power will be the first for the country since Kim Jong Il assumed power. 

Although he has joined the leadership of the country's party and army, Kim Jong Un has not yet had enough time to prepare for succession from his father. It remains unknown how far he has assumed the reins of power and taken control of his subordinates.