Japanese Culture

[Tri-ring]

Originally Posted by kyon.haruhi.suzumiya

I suppose it can act as a room heater as well?

Why would it need to do that?

If heat radiates from the tub it result in cooling of the tub to equilibrium or ambient temprature of the entire room.
You want a hot tube not a luke warm one.
There is a lid to cover the tub and the water is drained after the last person.(or left over till the next morning where it is used for washing clothes.)

[kyon.haruhi.suzumiya]

Originally Posted by Tri-ring

Why would it need to do that?

If heat radiates from the tub it result in cooling of the tub to equilibrium or ambient temprature of the entire room.
You want a hot tube not a luke warm one.
There is a lid to cover the tub and the water is drained after the last person.(or left over till the next morning where it is used for washing clothes.)

^^ No, for the room outside. Not the bathroom. I've sen some before in South Korea.

[LynnieS]

Originally Posted by Tri-ring

Why would it need to do that?

If heat radiates from the tub it result in cooling of the tub to equilibrium or ambient temprature of the entire room.
You want a hot tube not a luke warm one.
There is a lid to cover the tub and the water is drained after the last person.(or left over till the next morning where it is used for washing clothes.)

I think that kyon.haruhi.suzumiya meant the box in your diagram acts as a room heater also? The heater of my tub is in the walls somewhere since the bath room is in the interior part of my apartment. Not a room heater, therefore. The floor plans of apartments for rent/sale that I have seen usually have their bath rooms away from the outside area (outside of the balcony, say) also, but I'm sure there are exceptions; the small places like the 1DK, 2K and such, perhaps.

[Tri-ring]

Originally Posted by kyon.haruhi.suzumiya

^^ No, for the room outside. Not the bathroom. I've sen some before in South Korea.

OK I see you're talking about "Ondoru" or floor heating.
No Japanese did not adopt that idea.
Ondoru is hot exaust air from the stove channeled under the floor to heat the entire room.
The idea is good for Korea but with Japan's rainy season with humidity going high as 90% you want to keep the space beneath the floors as arid as possible to prevent rotting of the pillars so Japan did not adopt that concept.

[kyon.haruhi.suzumiya]

Originally Posted by LynnieS

I think that kyon.haruhi.suzumiya meant the box in your diagram acts as a room heater also?

^^ Yes, this is what I'm talking about. Saw one in Seoul.

[Yukinokesshou]

Originally Posted by Tri-ring

OK I see you're talking about "Ondoru" or floor heating.
No Japanese did not adopt that idea.
Ondoru is hot exaust air from the stove channeled under the floor to heat the entire room.
The idea is good for Korea but with Japan's rainy season with humidity going high as 90% you want to keep the space beneath the floors as arid as possible to prevent rotting of the pillars so Japan did not adopt that concept.

Perhaps there's also the factor that most residential buildings in Japan are wooden due to earthquakes. Wood rots but concrete doesn't. Korea also has a humid season (though probably not as humid as Japan?) but I believe most buildings there are made of concrete; same goes for China in spite of earthquakes (Sichuan? Tangshan? Few in number but always catastrophic).

[LynnieS]

Originally Posted by Yukinokesshou

Perhaps there's also the factor that most residential buildings in Japan are wooden due to earthquakes. Wood rots but concrete doesn't. Korea also has a humid season (though probably not as humid as Japan?) but I believe most buildings there are made of concrete; same goes for China in spite of earthquakes (Sichuan? Tangshan? Few in number but always catastrophic).

Newer buildings these days are made of concrete, though. Wooden houses... I haven't seen very many of these being put up - at least not 100% ones - but then I live in the Tokyo metro area. Wood for homebuilding can be pretty expensive, I think.

With modern-day houses, some - or at least the more expensive ones - can have in-floor heating. Technology rules. Older or cheaper places...

[Tri-ring]

Oh boy, I am talking about housing before the 20th century when they first came to be..
Now tell me which nation had concrete houses in that time, huh?
Ondoru was probably adopted by the Koreans because the winter is much harsher then that of Japan.
While Japan have a much milder winter thanks to the Pacific ocean and the warm ocean current flowing by but it is much more humid for a extended period of time with much more precipitation.
One of the reasons why Japanese traditionally chose wood as building material is because it adjust humidity when creating a closed space.(Seisouin built in the 9th century is based on this phenomenon)
On the other hand, Ondoru works on the chimney effect but to obtain this you need to seal all sides for it to work disastrous for wooden housing with humidity liable to build up around the foundation.

At the end it was choice for the lesser harsh condition lesser cold for a hotter summer or a cooler winter for a cooler summer.
Koreans took a warmer winter because they have a harsher cold while Japanese took a cooler summer for a cold winter since winter cold was bearable with clothing.

[Yukinokesshou]

Originally Posted by Tri-ring

Oh boy, I am talking about housing before the 20th century when they first came to be..
Now tell me which nation had concrete houses in that time, huh?

Ancient Rome, 2000 years ago

But, point taken.

[JanthraX^]

Originally Posted by Tri-ring

Oh boy, I am talking about housing before the 20th century when they first came to be..
Now tell me which nation had concrete houses in that time, huh?

Why not brick or stone, also brick/stone structures can be made earthquake resistance.
Also the UK had concrete structures in the late 1800's,

[Tri-ring]

Originally Posted by JanthraX^

Why not brick or stone, also brick/stone structures can be made earthquake resistance.
Also the UK had concrete structures in the late 1800's,

Bricks and stone are notoriously bad in climate control in humid weather.
They are also very fragile during earthquakes because of it's rigidness not being able to absorb movement.
An absolute catastrophe for Japanese conditions.

[bhl88]

Can COSPA/COSPATIO modify cosplay things for casual wear?

[JanthraX^]

Originally Posted by Tri-ring

Bricks and stone are notoriously bad in climate control in humid weather.
They are also very fragile during earthquakes because of it's rigidness not being able to absorb movement.
An absolute catastrophe for Japanese conditions.

Well i know stone/brick structures can be made to withstand earthquakes through simple measures.

I dont know much about climate control within smaller buildings though

[Tri-ring]

I found this at youtube which I think what made Japan today.

It is golden words quoted from developers which were highlighted in a TV program titled Project X aired on NHK.
The program highlighted inovated products and thought to be impossible tasks of those days like the Shinkansen.

It's also been used by Suntori as a palody staring Tommy L. Jones.

[Shadow Kira01]

Originally Posted by bhl88

Can COSPA/COSPATIO modify cosplay things for casual wear?

I don't think that's a good idea but it depends on the individual who plans to wear it or not, of course.

[Vexx]

Hmmm, not quite sure where to put this one (news? culture?).

There's a Japanese-brewed web browser entering the global web browser wars. Its called Sleipnir (they seem to have a fascination with Norse mythology, yes).
news article: http://asia.cnet.com/blogs/tokyo-shi...amp;scid=hm_bl
Home Page: http://www.fenrir.co.jp/
English (usa) download page: http://www.fenrir-inc.com/us/sleipni...file=installer

I can't give it a thumbs up or down yet... I'll probably play with the Japanese and English editions sometime this week.
It is Windows-only (the author said that IE annoyed him). If nothing else I'm hoping this will catch on in Japan and maybe Korea and get them off of their IE-crippled web development mentality. When zero-day exploits hit -- at the moment, they're rather screwed because so many transaction sites are "IE-only" or even Active-X required (which is pretty much insane for a public interface).

[ZephyrLeanne]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Hmmm, not quite sure where to put this one (news? culture?).

If nothing else I'm hoping this will catch on in Japan and maybe Korea and get them off of their IE-crippled web development mentality. When zero-day exploits hit -- at the moment, they're rather screwed because so many transaction sites are "IE-only" or even Active-X required (which is pretty much insane for a public interface).

Hah LOL IE-crippled web development mentality.
Actually, not everyone has the time to move to Firefox/Opera/any other browser. In fact, my using Chrome is quite extraordinary in Japan, since it's said to be something only English-speakers would ever use.

Firefox is said to be something only geeks or people with too much time on their hands would use, and Safari is for the die-hard Apple fella. Opera is for backward computers...

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by ShimatheKat

Hah LOL IE-crippled web development mentality.
Actually, not everyone has the time to move to Firefox/Opera/any other browser. In fact, my using Chrome is quite extraordinary in Japan, since it's said to be something only English-speakers would ever use.

Firefox is said to be something only geeks or people with too much time on their hands would use, and Safari is for the die-hard Apple fella. Opera is for backward computers...

Makes me wonder if they noticed the Microsoft Alert a week or two ago which told all IE users on the planet to "use something ELSE til we tell you its safe because you're pwnz0rd if you use IE"

Its not really a question of "time to move" -- it takes a few seconds to install and is intuitive any competing browser. The real problem is the plethora of web SERVERs in Japan and Korea that refuse to work with any browser but IE (often because they assume you're going to let them in your pants with Active X). Banks, Finance, game sites, vendors, etc...

[ZephyrLeanne]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Makes me wonder if they noticed the Microsoft Alert a week or two ago which told all IE users on the planet to "use something ELSE til we tell you its safe because you're pwnz0rd if you use IE"

Yep, only recently there's some movement towards things like Safari. Not the free-source yet, but I guess it'll come soon.

[Vexx]

I'm putting these two into the Japanese Culture thread as they're more 'daily life in Japan and how it is going'.

Mount Asama erupts in Japan, sends minor ash showers over Tokyo.

Japan's iconic brand names all in pain as economic recession deepens - many taking first losses ever. The corporate decisions to drop "life employment" in the 1990s leaving many laid off workers in panic as government safety nets have not adapted.