It is a Japanese heartwarming object, a winter savior, and the center point of the home during cold weather.
It is nothing but the low, wooden table frame covered by a futon, over which a tabletop sits. The main source of heat is underneath formerly a charcoal brazier but now electric, often built into the table itself.
It's a source of warmth and joy that brings people together, like a campfire drawing people (and cats) around it. Kotatsu is usually found in the center of the home, the modern kotatsu involves a low table with a special futon (or shitagake) placed over it. An electric heater keeps your lower body toasty warm which is attached beneath. After under-floor heating became more common, while they took a dip in popularity at one point, in attempts to save energy the Japanese heated table and blanket concept has taken off in a big way.

The modern electric Japanese heated table had quite humble and practical beginnings Evolving over the years, thought to have originated in the 14th-century Muromachi era. To heat, a hearth set into the ground known as an irori Charcoal was once used. A seating platform was added later which separated the cooking function from the heating and finally, to stop the heat disappearing too quickly, a quilt was placed on top to localize the heat. This style was called early the Hori-gotatsu meaning a ditch foot warmer. In Japan, A kotatsu is a way of staying warm in winter that Japanese people have used for centuries. It consists of a heat source under a table with a skirt around it, usually a quilted futon or other heavy material, to prevent the warmth from escaping. It made use of the sunken hearth originally where the family did its cooking and was heated by a charcoal fire. Almost all modern kotatsu is electric, though, and often the heater is built into the table. For many families, the kotatsu is a traditional center. Under the table, it's always warm, so everyone gathers around to cook nabe (hot pot) on a portable stove, eat mandarin oranges, and watch television. To stay with feet and legs under the kotatsu it is so comfortable that it can be difficult to get up and spend time in colder parts of the home. Who will only move away from the table for toilet breaks are often compared to snails, those, as if the kotatsu was a part of their bodies, and cats are also said to love the heating systems, one popular children's rhyme famously talks of a cat curling up under the kotatsu. Kotatsu, in Japan, dates back to the 14th century, when a seating area was introduced around the charcoal-burner used for cooking meals, with the addition of a quilt on its top.

Some of the kotatsu was big enough to allow 20 people to sit around the cooking pit, in the countryside. The kotatsu became a low table frame, during the Edo period, usually made of wood, covered with a heavy blanket upon which a tabletop sat. The kotatsu is moveable, in modern times. It's a way to stay warm at a lower cost, for Japanese people. The Kotatsu is located where everyone in the house will hold most activities during the cold season. During winter and is an important element of Japanese culture the kotatsu represents the heart of the Japanese home. To heat due to the thin walls Traditional Japanese houses have always been difficult, so it's no wonder the kotatsu became a lasting fixture of Japanese culture. Heating other rooms in the house, of course, particularly the bedroom became more desirable and so the portable kotatsu was born. In an earthen pot First coals and then later electric heater was attached to the bottom of the table making it portable, the wonderful option to take a nap under your kotatsu was born. Oki-gotatsu is the name of this modern style, Oki meaning placement. The production of Kotatsu has tumbled to a tenth of its peak 40 years ago. In many homes, the use of air conditioning systems and underfloor heating has spurred this drop in popularity.

In particular, air conditioning has spread rapidly since the 1970s, reaching the point where 90.5% of households now own systems. As part of Japanese tradition Kotatsu has existed and as staples of the Japanese household for hundreds of years. They were not designed by specific firms and manufacturers originally. Everything is made by some company or other in today's society, it's vital to know what the best designers and manufacturers of kotatsu are, what they provide, and how their particular designs and styles are unique when stood beside those designs of their contemporaries. Though, kotatsu is likely to remain an integral part of the image of winter for Japanese people, whether sales continue to rise or return to their decline.