SORABYCO | Life in Japan

When I first moved to Japan, I thought of the wall-mounted air conditioner as something I would mainly use in summer. Then winter came, and I realized the same unit would also be doing the heating. That made me wonder what I was supposed to do after months of using the cooling mode. Should I clean everything before winter? Should I turn on the heating right away? Or is there something I should check first? The short answer is simple. You do not need to deep-clean your air conditioner every autumn. Once you are using the cooling mode less often, it is enough to clean the filter, make sure the unit can dry properly, clear the area around the outdoor unit, and test the heating before the weather gets cold . In Japan, autumn AC maintenance is less about “putting the air conditioner away” and more about getting the same machine ready for its next job. Start with the filter after a long Japanese summer After weeks or months of cooling and dehumidifying, the filter is the easiest place to sta...

When I first moved to Japan, I was relieved to see insect screens on almost every window. I thought that as long as the screen was closed, bugs would stay outside. That confidence lasted until I found a tiny flying insect in the living room one summer evening. The window screen was closed. The front door had not been left open. I could not see any obvious gap. So where had it come from? Since then, I have asked myself the same question many times during summer in Japan. I am not very good with bugs, so even a small one can make me jump. My three Bengal cats, on the other hand, react as if something incredibly exciting has happened. One cat runs under the table, another stares at the ceiling, and suddenly all three are chasing the same tiny bug through the living room. It is funny for a few seconds. Then one of them tries to catch it with their mouth, and I end up chasing both the bug and the cats. That was what finally made me look into how bugs get inside Japanese homes, even when the...