[Nyororin]

Fan death? In Japan? That`s silly. It`s a Korean thing. I`ve NEVER heard of anyone in Japan being afraid of dying by fan.

I`ll be willing to bet anything that it`s really about the electric bill. There is a smaller belief that over-cooling your abdomen will upset your stomach, but seriously - everyone uses at LEAST fans at night. I think your host mother would have a heart attack as almost everyone in this building has their air conditioners on all night in the bedroom...

The biggest is a money thing. Electricity is extremely expensive, and the more degrees away from the actual temperature you go the more it uses. It is usually recommended that the AC be set to 2~3 degrees lower than the outdoor temperature - so if it`s 30~31 out, 28. Supposedly this is enough that you can feel the difference and feel significantly cooler.

To give a basic estimate on electricity costs, and why your host mother is probably worried - an older AC (8+ years) can end up costing 100/yen per HOUR of use if it`s set to 24 in 30 degree weather. 8 hours of sleep a night with the AC on for a month, and that is a seriously hefty bill. That`s the real reason people dread turning the AC on. Older units also used much more electricity for cooling than heating (It`s the opposite in newer models. I let my fingers turn blue before turning on the heater...)

She sort of sounds a lot like one of those women who believe in the "Save for Hawaii!" cult *cough* - I meant plan. There are countless books out there telling how you can save tiny tiny bits of money over long periods of time for the magical future "trip to Hawaii" that everyone apparently wants to take in their life. One of the big things they tell is to never set the AC over 14 in winter, and below 28 in summer. They also have hints on how to save 10 yen a month by micro-managing the exact seconds you have the refrigerator open, save up to 60 yen a month by washing and reusing plastic wrap, etc - all things that the effort is worth 10 times the monetary amount. But some older women go crazy with those things...