If you’re looking for us before mid-spring, you’ll know where to find us.

Here in Japan, the most common way to cope with the cold temperatures of the winter months is to take refuge at a kotatsu, a low table with a heater attached to its underside and a blanket that you place over your legs to trap the warmth around your legs and feet. The effect is so comfy that kotatsu have even been installed at some restaurants and at least one movie theater in Japan, but the drawback is that even as your lower half gets nice and toasty, the kotatsu leaves your upper body exposed to the surrounding chill.

Now, though, we’ve stumbled across a solution to this problem. Sure, it may not be the most elegant-looking solution, but it definitely seems like an effective one.

Chinese shopping site TMall will be happy to provide you with one of these contraptions, which essentially function like a full-body kotatsu. They even come with sections that you can open up to stick your hands out of in order to use a smartphone or read a book.

▼ Though in this case it looks like the guy is trying to work his knees into the box.

There’s even a hood so to keep the top and back of your head warm. But while these devices look like the ultimate winter refuge, their original purpose is actually somewhat different, as they’re home-use saunas designed to be used with a steam/heat pump that channels warmth through a hose that attaches near the base of the box.

This is being sold by TMall here for just 266 yuan (US$42), which seems like a serious bargain. Granted, at such a low price, we’re not sure if the machinery is sturdy enough to handle constant use until spring, so we’d recommend keeping a pair of lazy otaku pajamas nearby in case you suddenly have to vacate your fortress of warm solitude.

Source, images: TMall
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