[Translation from Japanese to English ] In comparing consumption of energy in Japan and other developed countries, Ja...

Original text

他の先進国と日本の家庭用エネルギー消費を比較すると、日本は以下の特徴を持っている。第一に日本の家庭は相対的にエネルギー消費量が小さい。第二に、他国に比べるとガス消費の割合が低い（ただし給湯用にはガスが圧倒的に多く使われている）。日本の世帯当たりエネルギー消費の相対的な小ささは、日本の気候が温暖なこともあるが、住宅面積の小ささ、そして局所暖房が主流であることに由来している。暖房、特に関東以北、では灯油が主な燃料である。厨房用ではガス利用の割合が高く、続いて電力が使われている。

Translation / English

In comparing consumption of energy in Japan and other developed countries, Japan has the following characteristics.

First is that amount of energy consumed in Japanese families is relatively small.
Second is that the ratio of gas consumption is low in comparison with other coutries(but great volume of gas is used overwhelmingly for suppying hot water).

The relatively small amount of energy that is consumed per family in Japan is derived from the facts that weather in Japan is mild, areas used for houses is small and main means of heating the houses is local heating. The fuel used for heating particularly in the areas north of Kanto is mainly oil. For kitchen, the ratio of gas is high followed by electricity.

Translation / English

Compare to other developed countries, Japanese household energy consumption has several characters listed below. First, Japanese households consume less energy than that of other countries. Second, Japanese households consume less gas. (Most households use gas for hot water, though.) One reason for this comparatively less energy consumption of Japanese households is because of warm Japanese weather. Another reasons are smaller houses and the fact most households uses spot heating system. Main energy source for heating especially in the north of Kanto area is Kerosene. For cooking, gas usage is most popular and electric comes next.