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Japanese Toilets: The Future Called 30 Years Ago

149 points by ranebo 12y ago

veidr 12y ago
This is one of those things that long-time expats that live in Japan often take back with them when they leave. Another is the practice of removing your (utterly filthy, inevitably) outdoor shoes when you enter the house. I read Shogun as a kid (great book, for a little kid) and going back home to the USA and using the toilet there always reminds me of the scenes where the European sailors that shipwrecked in Japan sit around scratching their fleas and scoffing at the Japs' grotesque habit of bathing every day... gross
- kiba 12y ago
  Never met any Americans/westerners/etc who wear shoes in the house. They all walk barefoot.
  - ghaff 12y ago
    Don't know where you live but removing shoes is uncommon practice in my experience.
    - madsushi 12y ago
      Especially in rural areas, where I would say 9 out of 10 people leave their shoes on inside the house.
      - sjtrny 12y ago
        Really? Wouldn't it make even more sense to remove shoes if you live in a rural area where you are more likely to be stomping through mud.
        po 12y ago
        really... I don't get it now but it made sense when I went to visit my family. Now that I live in Japan, I can say that it is really weird when I go back home. I usually take my shoes off and every now and then I step in a wet foot print from someone who just came inside from the rain and really wonder why it is like that.
  - veidr 12y ago
    Yes, the overwhelming majority of Americans in the USA do wear shoes in the house. I myself did it too, until age 19 (when I moved to Japan). http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Consumer/story?id=5177409 http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Consumer/story?id=5177409 http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/18ekqf/as_a_canadian_do_americans_really_wear_their/ http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/18ekqf/as_a_canad... http://www.quora.com/Do-real-Americans-wear-shoes-indoors-as-portrayed-in-sitcom-TV-shows http://www.quora.com/Do-real-Americans-wear-shoes-indoors-as... https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101011193926AA37Ox3 https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101011193926A...
    - craigching 12y ago
      That is amazing to me. In Minneapolis, everyone requires you to remove shoes before entering the house proper. Maybe it's the snow ... of which we are currently in the process of getting about 12" tonight :-/
      - llllllllllll 12y ago
        Yeah, grew up in Minneapolis and most everyone removes their shoes, especially during the winter as it would create a complete mess if you didn't. During the rest of the year, it depends a little bit on the residence. I never cared if someone kept their shoes on in the junky apartments I lived in during college, but if it were my parent's well-kept house for example, I'd consider it rude to keep them on.
      - Pyrodogg 12y ago
        Ditto. Even though I'm renting I have two runners so that I can absolutely cover the floor from the door to the coat closet. The boots (and shoes) don't leave the rug. One of my friends has such high carpet and a close to the floor door that they can't have a rug immediately inside their unit. They contrived a mini parkour course to safely enter. You'd have to hop from the common hallway to a rug 2ft in and then to another one 2ft further, all in the name of etiquette and not wearing shoes "inside".
    - slyall 12y ago
  - deleted 12y ago
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- ekianjo 12y ago
  > the European sailors that shipwrecked in Japan sit around scratching their fleas and scoffing at the Japs' grotesque habit of bathing every day... gross Well on a ship you certainly can't wash yourself every day. And even in Europe, there was a lack of running water to wash yourself as often as you wanted. Japan has tons of rivers everywhere and is one of the richest country in terms of river water - and you can add onsen (hot springs) on top of that which provides free warm water to those living nearby. It's easy to criticize people of old, but they lived in very different conditions than we do, and Japanese had as much water as they wanted hence they developed that everyday washing culture. Yet, Japan is actually importing water from other countries because they can't even meet their needs anymore in water supply - so the Japan model is not sustainable if you think about it this way. The consumption of water is among the highest worldwide (not just for bathing, but also washing clothes etc...) so it you applied the same model everywhere else you'd run out of water very fast in most countries.
  - a8da6b0c91d 12y ago
    The whole "europeans were dirty" thing is apocryphal. European towns were loaded with heated public baths that got plenty of use, just like in Asia. There was a phenomenon that the public baths became associated with the spread of plague and syphilis when those diseases reached Europe (because they were associated) and usage declined. This has somehow done whisper-down-the-lane into the idea that Europeans were filthy.
  - comicjk 12y ago
    Water consumption by agriculture and industry dwarfs that for personal use. Stats for Japan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_supply_and_sanitation_in_Japan#Water_use http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_supply_and_sanitation_in_...
    - ekianjo 12y ago
      > Water consumption by agriculture and industry dwarfs that for personal use. Yeah, but Japan does not need to make their own crops. It's very much a policy that can debated. Surfaces for agriculture in Japan are very well, mainly composed of small-time farmers, and that kind of activity only exists because it's heavily subsidized by the government, and the country applies huge tariffs and trade protections to prevent importing food from other countries around (at the expense of Japanese taxpayers and consumers).
- rikacomet 12y ago
  In India, you buy separate rubber slippers/American beach slippers (2$) for the washroom, and a separate one for the house. We don't really stress our feet with closed shoes inside the house. No one's watching you anyway. Only winters, is the in-house rubber slippers (not the washroom ones) are changed with warm slippers.
  - enscr 12y ago
    I've yet to visit a house in India where people have separate slippers for washroom & house. Strange.
    - rikacomet 12y ago
      The reason might be same as in the case of Japanese culture. Though its standard practice to excuse yourself, while entering a room or leaving it. You would meet a lot of people who just don't follow that. Besides, you never know what you will learn next. Stay hungry :)
  - Raphael 12y ago
    Americans don't say "beach slippers". Sandals or flip flops.
- enscr 12y ago
  If you remove your shoes outside and walk barefoot, you're just sharing the sweat, dirt & germs of your foot with everyone else at home & guests. You'll probably take that to bed with you and sometimes sleep on it. If you must leave your shoes outside, wear an 'inside-only' slippers.
  - silencio 12y ago
    I take my shoes off right after I walk in the door of my apartment. It's not for cleanliness or anything as much as it is just I like fuzzy squishy slippers compared to whatever shoes I may have been wearing that day that need to be aired or dried out or whatever they need. Barefoot or not your feet are dirty, the shoes are a different kind of dirty, and there's other stuff on the floor too (like in my instance, I really need to get a roomba because my cat sheds all over the place). So whatever. I'm pretty amazed guests will take their shoes off because everyone that lives here does, like this is what happened when a whole bunch of people came over to my place after my wedding: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chix0r/13618218504/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/chix0r/13618218504/
  - colin_jack 12y ago
    You keep your socks on so that's not really an issue. I personally don't let anyone wear shoes in our house, I don't know what they've stepped on so I don't want them dragging anything over the floors and carpets.
    - enscr 12y ago
      Socks doesn't fix the problem completely. Unfortunately, visitors don't like being told that they can keep the socks on while walking on the carpet, but if they are to sit on the bed or put the feet up on the couch, they should take it off. Don't even feel like discussing how clean are fresh are everyone's socks.
      - colin_jack 12y ago
        I wouldn't tell them to ever take their socks off, the only rule in our house is no shoes in the house. Agree socks might not be 100% clean but you have to draw the line somewhere, and the bottom of a sock is bound to be cleaner than the bottom of a shoe.
- afterburner 12y ago
  Canadians don't wear their shoes indoors either. Because of tracking melting snow indoors (so the habit sticks any other time), or the less comfortable shoes due to such weather, and probably because homes in colder climates are heated a little better, so shoes get uncomfortably hot. But it just makes sense, even in dry summer weather. Or is it blasting AC that makes shoes necessary?
  - k-mcgrady 12y ago
    This was one of the things that took me by surprise in Canada. At home I would do it if someone asked me but in Canada even the cable guy and the construction guy removed their shoes as soon as they entered without being asked. Surprising considering they were also going in and out to their van and had to put the shoes on/off repeatedly.
- joyeuse6701 12y ago
  Mmm, reading that now actually. I'm enjoying it, and I could easily see that if I was younger I'd be enamored by it.
- po 12y ago
  A few years ago we had to call an ambulance for a medical emergency for a family member (in Tokyo). When the ambulance came, all three EMT workers dutifully slipped their shoes off as they came in. They all had old sneakers so loosely laced that they were basically slippers. Slip-on shoes are basically a must-have thing in Japan.
enko 12y ago
After using the toilet, do you wash your hands, or just wipe them? You've just demonstrated why washing toilets are superior. I cannot understand our misplaced, hollow pride in not adopting something which simply works better. I've even heard some especially crazy people try to say the japanese toilets are "perverted" - the hold tradition has on some people is just insane. Japanese toilets are simply better. For some bizarre reason we've resisted adopting them here. It boggles the mind.
- ewoodrich 12y ago
  I also used to think of Japanese toilets as weird , and overly complex for the task (that may be partially true) but after buying a 35 dollar bidet attachment for my apartment toilet, using any other bathroom feels barbaric. I've resorted to carrying moist wipes when out of town, but even those are a far cry from the efficiency and cleanliness afforded by a washlet/bidet. I would love for the rest of the country to get over whatever biases or anxiety keeps us from mainstream adoption of an objectively superior system for bathroom hygiene.
  - visarga 12y ago
    After experiencing an electronic bidet in Japan for the first time during a holiday, I returned home wondering how on earth did I manage without it. I was sold. I bought a YoYo 770 for 800$ as soon as it appeared in Europe.
    - XorNot 12y ago
      Incidentally, YoYo are now called Quoss for anyone shopping for them. Exact same products, just a different name (also have come down in price by about $200).
- chrismonsanto 12y ago
  I really think this is something people have to try for themselves. Also, people should travel more. Japan is such an amazing place. Using an American toilet in 2014 is like programming your next web app in classic ASP. Time to upgrade.
LVB 12y ago
I tried, liked and missed Japanese toilets. I certainly wasn't going to be installing a $1000 Toto in my house, but I waited too long to take a chance on a cheap bidet. For <$50 you can get a bidet on Amazon which, though little more than a valve and a spout, works pretty well.
- gtaylor 12y ago
  $25 and has been good enough for me. No warm water line, but you can spend $20 more for one that has that if you care. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003TPGPUW/ http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003TPGPUW/
rahimnathwani 12y ago
If you're thinking about buying one of these, I can highly recommend the Toto S300e (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009IJ2LM4 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009IJ2LM4) or, if you live in Asia, the TCF4722CS (http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=23047236820 http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=23047236820). These 'washlet' toilet seats can be retro-fitted to normal toilets. It's really easy as long as the flush-water inlet to your toilet has a standard fitting. Oh, and assuming you have a suitable power socket near the toilet. The manual recommends a GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) socket.
- ewoodrich 12y ago
  Or if you can't afford a 1000 dollar heated/programmable washlet, you can get a no frills cold water attachment for 35 dollars on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001KKRCFA/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1396578800&sr=8-1&pi=SX200_QL40 http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001KKRCFA/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=... I have a similar one and it works great (though it's not as luxuroius as a Toto).
- alphakappa 12y ago
  You don't need to go Toto. There are Korean companies that make bidets that (in my opinion) are just as good, but are more affordable. Bio Bidet is one of them (BB1000). Stateside, there's Brondell (I recommend the Swash1000) but my preference is for Bio Bidet.
- wting 12y ago
  There are also cheaper compromises that only replace the toilet lid instead of the entire toilet and without requiring a hot water line. I bought this version last year for $250 but it's $350 now: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005XNW1Q0/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B005XNW1Q0&linkCode=as2&tag=0xgfeujusf-20 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005XNW1Q0/ref=as_li_ss_tl?...
  - rahimnathwani 12y ago
    "There are also cheaper compromises that only replace the toilet lid instead of the entire toilet and without requiring a hot water line." Both the models I recommended are of this type (they are just a seat, and they don't require a hot water line). I considered the model you recommended. The main reason I went for the higher-priced models is that they are higher-power, and can heat the incoming water in real-time. The more inexpensive Toto models are lower power, but compensate by having a built-in tank to store water. I guessed (but did not verify) that, on occasion, the tank could run out of hot water before I was done. Does the tank on the B100 always have enough hot water for you?
deleted 12y ago
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impendia 12y ago
I remember my first visit to a Japanese toilet. I noticed all the buttons after I finished my business and stood up. Wow! What do these do? I bent over the toilet bowl and pushed a button at random...
- visarga 12y ago
  Deedee?
  - rikacomet 12y ago
    "what does this big red pushy button do" :P
- w00kie 12y ago
  All Japanese models have a pressure sensor built into the seat so that no water comes out unless someone is actually sitting on the toilet.
  - Aloisius 12y ago
    That was decidedly not the case when I first visited Japan in 2001. The jet of water that hit the door to the bathroom was quite wet by the time I figured out how to shut the toilet off.
    - prawn 12y ago
      A bidet in a London hotel around 2003 managed to hit me in the eye. I was a clear metre from the bowl. A mistake you make once and then not again!
nkozyra 12y ago
"disinterested" >:(
drderidder 12y ago
Japanese baths are great, too - you can wash your body before getting into the tub, so you're not stewing in your own filth.
- dagurp 12y ago
  In Iceland you are required to wash before entering a swimming pool. you're likely to be stopped by an employee if you don't
smokey_the_bear 12y ago
In the spirit of too much information that is this thread. I was given a lavette bottle after giving birth, and I've continued using it quite often. http://www.amazon.com/Lavette-Bottle-Perineal-Irrigation-DYND70125H/dp/B000VSXSX2/ http://www.amazon.com/Lavette-Bottle-Perineal-Irrigation-DYN... It's an even cheaper alternative to the cold water attachment, it's portable, and you can fill it with warm water.
- AjithAntony 12y ago
  This seems interesting. It looks like a regular sports bottle. The comments on that item suggest there are more and smaller holes than a single large opening, for a better flow for this application. Is that the only difference? How does one use it? Is there a straw inside that draws from the bottom of the bottle? Do you need to position it upright, or upside down? These two seem more natural to use, If you didn't have your bottle already, would one of these be more interesting? http://www.amazon.com/Hygienna-Solo-Portable-Cleaning-Solution/dp/B00CDPCHLU/ http://www.amazon.com/Hygienna-Solo-Portable-Cleaning-Soluti... http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Bidet-BB-20-Portable/dp/B004IW5ITO http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Bidet-BB-20-Portable/dp/B004IW5IT...
  - smokey_the_bear 12y ago
    The number, shape, and size of holes seem well suited for the bottle's purpose. There's no straw, but you can hold it upright or upside down as long as it's not close to empty. I think I would buy the same one I have over one of those. For this application, I think I value simplicity. Women might have slightly different requirements for this than men too.
rikthevik 12y ago
Make sure you flush before you hit the "blow hot air" button. :/
ragle 12y ago
When I first came to Thailand, I was appalled when one of my friends told me the pistol nozzle (like we use in the US for doing dishes) next to every Thai toilet[1] was for spraying yourself after using the bathroom. This was disgusting to me at first. Echoing a few other comments, I feel like a bidet is something you have to experience yourself before you trust it. Once you do though, I think you are forever changed. On my last trip back to the states, I remember feeling perpetually disgusted that all I had to clean myself with was paper. It's disgusting - barbaric even... you're just smearing waste all over yourself. If you don't feel like spending the money to install a Japanese bidet, a Thai "bum gun" might be a more wallet-friendly option. [1] - http://thatluckyboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/bum_gun_tribute1.jpg http://thatluckyboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/bum_gun_t...
- tricolon 12y ago
  Those are ubiquitous in Northern Europe as well—yes, including all public bathrooms.
  - ardacinar 12y ago
    Are you sure about Northern Europe? I live in Sweden and I haven't encountered anything like that here. (They are common in Finland, though)
- llllllllllll 12y ago
  Same situation for me in Cambodia. It wasn't until I ran out of toilet paper one time that I caved in and tried the "bum gun". Now it's my preference for sure, cleaner and quicker too.
ChuckMcM 12y ago
FWIW this was one of the 'tour questions' on Google which had (at least when I was there) several bathrooms equipped with washlets. It really is a nice thing, and one of the engineers put a WattsUp meter on one to see if it was wasting power (answer quite economical). Of course in California using water to wash yourself in a drought is probably the wrong thing to do ...
rikacomet 12y ago
One thing I haven't really understood is why exactly is a Indian toilet seat seen as inferior to the English toilet seat. - True that the English seat occupies less space, but its adoption has not always been based on space savings. - True that sitting appears more gentleman like, rather than sitting half subtended in air, but hey who is watching? - True that elderly find the english version easier to use because of the supporting nature of the seat, but its not a hard rule. A hybrid of both (Anglo-Indian) seat is more suited to them, and ailing patients. - The Indian version is more hygienic, as no part of your body directly touches any part of the seat. Besides superior genital cleanliness over time due to wider leg positions. - The Indian version is decisively easier to clean/maintain compared to the English version. - Moreover the Indian version, is more suited to over-weight people than a English version. - And relatively, due to its production in labor intensive market such as India/China, the Indian version is cost-efficient, suited for developing nations, who still have a fairly large population that needs proper sanitation structures.
- enscr 12y ago
  - Plus squatting is a better posture for properly emptying yourself. Although sitting for longer than 5 minutes is painful and gets worse with age.
  - rikacomet 12y ago
    Yeah, that drawback can be seen as a JUST motivation for not taking your time in the toilet always. Even 5 minutes saved one time, is equal to 10-15 minutes everyday. 70-100 minutes a week and around 60-90 hours a year to put that into perspective.
    - enscr 12y ago
      For some, it's not an option.
    - sjtrny 12y ago
      I find my time on the toilet quite productive, it's usually when I have Eureka moments.
jonahx 12y ago
Maybe the hold traditional toilets have on us is another example of the triumph of "worse is better." Whatever else you want to say about them, they are closer to the UNIX tradition than Japanese toilets.
ekianjo 12y ago
By the way "bidet" is a french word in the first place and it has nothing to do with washing your arse :) Bidets are small bathtubs-shaped vessels where you actually wash your feet. The reason they existed is because in the past people didn't wash their whole body every single day, and instead they cleaned at least the most dirty / odorant parts of their bodies this way, more often.
- mkempe 12y ago
  Actually, the "bidet" is an invention from the early 1700s that was specifically designed to wash intimate parts. The etymology of the word indicates that the bidet is something one rides, by analogy with a small horse. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=bidet http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=bidet http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidet_(meuble) http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidet_(meuble)
Theodores 12y ago
Sorry to sound 'negative', but... I don't know if this is the way the future is going to pan out - water is an increasingly scarce resource and, as it is, we waste a gallon or so of water to lift one's leavings up and over the u-bend. Of all people Bill Gates is probably the expert on what toilets will really be like in the future, allegedly water, toilets, sanitation and health is something he is most interested in. Personally, although I am not into 'standing desks' I am into 'standing toilets', as in the humble urinal. One's aim is easier and there is no seat to remember to put down for the next user. Less water is wasted. I would want one at home so as to avoid 'female complaints' regarding the state of things. Ideally the outflow from the adjacent sink would keep it clean so water wastage really would be minimal. It would be in a room of its own, a very small room with no need for anyone female to ever enter it. I recently replaced an extractor fan in a bathroom. I thought that a quiet fan would be preferable and I was disappointed with the noise made. However, then I realised the real purpose of the fan, it is to make noise to disguise the sound of one leaving one's leavings. I believe that the Japanese toilets have some of this functionality too. Can anyone confirm that?
- Taylorious 12y ago
  I suppose it depends on where you live. If you live in Arizona it might end up being an issue due to the energy cost of processing the water for reuse. However, if you live in Chicago you aren't going to have a shortage of water anytime soon. I don't really get these water shortage scares people talk about. I can see how it is an issue in remote/poor areas around the world, but a country like the US has nothing to worry about. If fresh water reserves get low we can always desalinate seawater. There are engineering challenges and energy costs to do that, but both are solvable issues. No one is going to die from thirst.
  - kissickas 12y ago
    I think a large part of the problem is that it's a "tragedy of the commons" situation. We won't see a huge investment in better recycling and desalinization until it's absolutely required, which would mean that we've already destroyed some aquifers permanently, in some places causing entire aquifers to become unrecoverable [0]. No one is going to die from thirst? Maybe. But a lot of the water loss is in the food-producing middle of the country. People are already starving in the US, and increased food prices will only exacerbate the situation. [1] [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquifer#Subsidence http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquifer#Subsidence (sections subsidence, saltwater intrusion, and salination) [1] https://water.usgs.gov/edu/gwdepletion.html https://water.usgs.gov/edu/gwdepletion.html
masahiro 12y ago
The most important thing to make Japanese office life happy is to provide a latest Japanese toilets. They do care about it a lot!
grifpete 12y ago
I have one. I'll never go back.
bane 12y ago
Japanese (and increasingly Korean) toilets are amazing. I love visiting my in-laws and just using their toilets and feeling unbelievably civilized. My wife, refuses to get one, or even the fancy seat attachments because...tbh...they're freaking expensive. I can basically refit all the toilets in my house for less than the discount price for a single seat...and that's not including the cost of the electrician to put a power source near just one of my toilets. There's also lots of research in her home country that women shouldn't use the bidets in these toilets for various reasons particular to their anatomy. To compare, a Glacier Bay 2-piece high efficiency dual flush elongated toilet is <$100 at my local home depot. Toto Washlet S350e seat with heated seat and warm water bidet is $1,700. I frequently see cheaper Korean versions at my local Asian Market for $800-1200. I saw one at Costco for $650 the other day. If they want to penetrate the market, they need to drop the price significantly, corner the market, then start cranking the price up faster than inflation.
Natsu 12y ago
In case anyone was curious, ビデ is read as "bidet" (i.e. squirt water up your ass). This among the many reasons why it's helpful to at least learn to read kana before visiting, as it makes a lot of things easier--there are an awful lot of English words written in kana that you can decipher (well, French in this particular case, but you get the point I hope).
- ranebo 12y ago
  Actually bidet button is usually for women, I wouldn't advise pressing it unless you are one, or you will get a blast of water significantly forward of the desired target. おしり(oshiri) is the button thats useful to both sexes.
frozenport 12y ago
I wonder what the effect on overall hygiene is? I wash my hands after every bowl movement, in total (shower, etc) I wash them every 5 hours. Will people now wash their hands less?
gggggggg 12y ago
On reading that it seems like you use paper still. I didnt realise this. Do you use the normal paper before or after the water? Seems like after water and drying to me, but potentially much less? Also, does it do away with the need for women wiping after a pee?
srean 12y ago
I find health faucets http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidet_shower http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidet_shower quite effective, except that one time it went terribly wrong. These are essentially telephone showers installed next to the toilet. You switch them on using a valve/trigger and then manually direct the fire. Simple, cheap and no fuss. This little guy, however, turned out to be a closet fire hose. It pretty much went from 0 to 1000 gallons per sec in an instant and just wouldn't let up, the valve was stuck. The extension cord was twisting and coiling around like crazy with the released pressure, the shower head was going at full blast in my hand, initially directed at my rear, it was continuously pushing my hand away from anything that I was trying to point it to, it give me a visceral understanding of how jet engines work. Working out a sequence of operations in my head to get out of such a situation while caught in a compromised and inflexible position, with only one hand free, was quite a challenge. I am not quite sure if I should be thankful that it wasnt autonomously powered and directed. My first Japanese toilet experience happened @ Google (I was interning there at that time). When the water touched the derriere, it made me flinch and jump with surprise, as I wasnt quite sure what to expect, this was several years ago and Japanese toilets were still an unfamiliar opbject to me. And it really tickles the shit out of you ! (no pun intended) I guess there are ways to choose between a laminar and degrees of non laminar flow (all those controls must be for something), I would expect the former to be somewhat less flinch inducing.
wting 12y ago
Another thing that gets overlooked is the built-in faucet at the top to rinse off hands such that every tank of water gets used twice: http://demenglog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/toilet-seat-topcimg0688--large--my-japan-blog-pwtuo0c4.jpg http://demenglog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/toilet-seat-...
- hudibras 12y ago
  And another thing that gets overlooked is that the toilet is always in a separate room from the rest of the bathroom (washbasin and tub). It seems weird at first that you have to go down the hall into a phonebooth-sized compartment to do your business. But then you go back to visit family in America and can't stop noticing that you poop 3 feet away from where you brush your teeth...
  - seanmcdirmid 12y ago
    Have you ever tried a Chinese shower that is combined with a squat toilet? You have to be careful to not walk into the toilet when you are showering.
  - silencio 12y ago
    I actually have that in my apartment in SF. It may be because it's a three bedroom place with only one bath though. It's nice because someone can use the toilet while the shower is in use, but then you have to walk to the kitchen to wash your hands....wish someone had the foresight to add the faucet-top toilet ;)
    - stbtrax 12y ago
      why not add it yourself?
deleted 12y ago
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- azernik 12y ago
  This is a solution for a private bathroom, not a public one. Most public toilets in Japan are not these models.
- rahimnathwani 12y ago
  The water is sprayed from a wand. The wand automatically retracts into itself when not in use. When retracting and/or expanding, it washes itself. You never touch the want, and it's not expanded when you're doing your business, only afterwards when you turn on the spray.
CGudapati 12y ago
You will probably hate me for giving some graphic details but I had never used Toilet paper for the first 21 years of my life.(I am 22 BTW). I didn't even use a bidet. Just my left hand and water. I know this might be considered very disgusting but it is very common from where I am.
- MarkTee 12y ago
  I'm curious: Did you first try using toilet paper in another country/region, or it something that has recently been introduced to where you grew up?
  - CGudapati 12y ago
    I still don't use toilet paper. I used one when I had access to it(in a hotel). I knew toilet paper existed as once when I saw it in movies or read about it.
    - Omniusaspirer 12y ago
      Can I inquire as to where you grew up? I've genuinely never heard of anyone using just their hand, but I suppose it makes sense for poorer parts of the world. (no offense intended whatsoever)
      - CGudapati 12y ago
        India. No offense taken. FWIW, I can afford toilet paper. I just don't use it as I am habituated to using my hand. In case you are wondering, I can guarantee that the number of people who use their hand to clean their bottoms is much more than the combined population of USA.
harichinnan 12y ago
I was about to sleep but definitely had to add my contribution to bum washing. Most Indian toilets have a water faucet next to your seat. You always wash with water using your left hand(Right one is reserved for more auspicious occasions like eating food or shaking hands). I still remember the horror of my first trip to US and finding that you have to use rough sheets of paper to essentially scrath it off. But on the flip side, toilets in India are always damp and dirty with filthy cess pools of mold and .... God help you if you ever have to use a public toilet in India.
chx 12y ago
Toto makes travel washlets. Imagining travel without one is like trying to remember how we used to code before Google and Stackoverflow: yes we did it, for sure, but I just can't fathom how. It's also a relatively cheap and easy way to get acquianted with this nice facet of civilization. There are other travel washlets, not made by Toto, skip those. Search eBay for toto travel washlet, less than $100 shipped. I had a particularly bad day at a London client onsite and out of sheer desperation Googled for travel washlet (I have one normal at home and was missing it badly), not that I had any idea how you would even construct one but lo and behold, there it is.
- silencio 12y ago
  I would imagine peri bottles (or close enough, any kind of squeeze bottle) would do something similar in a pinch. I've only heard girlfriends with kids rave about them since it's usually only used after pregnancy, but (to be a bit TMI) pre-IUD years when I had periods, travel squeeze bottles totally saved the day for when wet wipes felt inadequate and I couldn't easily shower.
drak0n1c 12y ago
This guy uses the bidet before wiping? Whenever I'm in Japan I wipe before bidet, that way at least the initial blast of water doesn't spread too much gunk.
ntaso 12y ago
Questions, I couldn't find an answer to: How do you make sure that the water doesn't merely distribute your feces all over your butt? How do women prevent that feces get sprayed onto or even into their vagina, since the water seems to be coming from the rear side of the toilet?
PavlovsCat 12y ago
The future? What about the past? Washing your butt so it's clean = yeah, that's pretty cool. Eating the right food (and being lucky to have good digestion) so that normally the paper you wipe with comes up white = priceless. Of course you'll have to wash your hands, but still, we're not hardwired to make a mess every time we defecate. Maybe you could say that's excessive smoke indicating the engine isn't running right. Japanese toilets aren't a fix, they're a workaround.
theli 12y ago
Never been to Japan, but from description its the same type of toilets they have in South Korea. Yeah, feel much cleaner, I wonder how is it hard to get same setup in US

149 points by ranebo 12y ago

veidr 12y ago

This is one of those things that long-time expats that live in Japan often take back with them when they leave. Another is the practice of removing your (utterly filthy, inevitably) outdoor shoes when you enter the house. I read Shogun as a kid (great book, for a little kid) and going back home to the USA and using the toilet there always reminds me of the scenes where the European sailors that shipwrecked in Japan sit around scratching their fleas and scoffing at the Japs' grotesque habit of bathing every day... gross

kiba 12y ago
Never met any Americans/westerners/etc who wear shoes in the house. They all walk barefoot.
- ghaff 12y ago
  Don't know where you live but removing shoes is uncommon practice in my experience.
  - madsushi 12y ago
    Especially in rural areas, where I would say 9 out of 10 people leave their shoes on inside the house.
    - sjtrny 12y ago
      Really? Wouldn't it make even more sense to remove shoes if you live in a rural area where you are more likely to be stomping through mud.
      - po 12y ago
        really... I don't get it now but it made sense when I went to visit my family. Now that I live in Japan, I can say that it is really weird when I go back home. I usually take my shoes off and every now and then I step in a wet foot print from someone who just came inside from the rain and really wonder why it is like that.
- veidr 12y ago
  Yes, the overwhelming majority of Americans in the USA do wear shoes in the house. I myself did it too, until age 19 (when I moved to Japan). http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Consumer/story?id=5177409 http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Consumer/story?id=5177409 http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/18ekqf/as_a_canadian_do_americans_really_wear_their/ http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/18ekqf/as_a_canad... http://www.quora.com/Do-real-Americans-wear-shoes-indoors-as-portrayed-in-sitcom-TV-shows http://www.quora.com/Do-real-Americans-wear-shoes-indoors-as... https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101011193926AA37Ox3 https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101011193926A...
  - craigching 12y ago
    That is amazing to me. In Minneapolis, everyone requires you to remove shoes before entering the house proper. Maybe it's the snow ... of which we are currently in the process of getting about 12" tonight :-/
    - llllllllllll 12y ago
      Yeah, grew up in Minneapolis and most everyone removes their shoes, especially during the winter as it would create a complete mess if you didn't. During the rest of the year, it depends a little bit on the residence. I never cared if someone kept their shoes on in the junky apartments I lived in during college, but if it were my parent's well-kept house for example, I'd consider it rude to keep them on.
    - Pyrodogg 12y ago
      Ditto. Even though I'm renting I have two runners so that I can absolutely cover the floor from the door to the coat closet. The boots (and shoes) don't leave the rug. One of my friends has such high carpet and a close to the floor door that they can't have a rug immediately inside their unit. They contrived a mini parkour course to safely enter. You'd have to hop from the common hallway to a rug 2ft in and then to another one 2ft further, all in the name of etiquette and not wearing shoes "inside".
  - slyall 12y ago
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
ekianjo 12y ago
> the European sailors that shipwrecked in Japan sit around scratching their fleas and scoffing at the Japs' grotesque habit of bathing every day... gross Well on a ship you certainly can't wash yourself every day. And even in Europe, there was a lack of running water to wash yourself as often as you wanted. Japan has tons of rivers everywhere and is one of the richest country in terms of river water - and you can add onsen (hot springs) on top of that which provides free warm water to those living nearby. It's easy to criticize people of old, but they lived in very different conditions than we do, and Japanese had as much water as they wanted hence they developed that everyday washing culture. Yet, Japan is actually importing water from other countries because they can't even meet their needs anymore in water supply - so the Japan model is not sustainable if you think about it this way. The consumption of water is among the highest worldwide (not just for bathing, but also washing clothes etc...) so it you applied the same model everywhere else you'd run out of water very fast in most countries.
- a8da6b0c91d 12y ago
  The whole "europeans were dirty" thing is apocryphal. European towns were loaded with heated public baths that got plenty of use, just like in Asia. There was a phenomenon that the public baths became associated with the spread of plague and syphilis when those diseases reached Europe (because they were associated) and usage declined. This has somehow done whisper-down-the-lane into the idea that Europeans were filthy.
- comicjk 12y ago
  Water consumption by agriculture and industry dwarfs that for personal use. Stats for Japan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_supply_and_sanitation_in_Japan#Water_use http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_supply_and_sanitation_in_...
  - ekianjo 12y ago
    > Water consumption by agriculture and industry dwarfs that for personal use. Yeah, but Japan does not need to make their own crops. It's very much a policy that can debated. Surfaces for agriculture in Japan are very well, mainly composed of small-time farmers, and that kind of activity only exists because it's heavily subsidized by the government, and the country applies huge tariffs and trade protections to prevent importing food from other countries around (at the expense of Japanese taxpayers and consumers).
rikacomet 12y ago
In India, you buy separate rubber slippers/American beach slippers (2$) for the washroom, and a separate one for the house. We don't really stress our feet with closed shoes inside the house. No one's watching you anyway. Only winters, is the in-house rubber slippers (not the washroom ones) are changed with warm slippers.
- enscr 12y ago
  I've yet to visit a house in India where people have separate slippers for washroom & house. Strange.
  - rikacomet 12y ago
    The reason might be same as in the case of Japanese culture. Though its standard practice to excuse yourself, while entering a room or leaving it. You would meet a lot of people who just don't follow that. Besides, you never know what you will learn next. Stay hungry :)
- Raphael 12y ago
  Americans don't say "beach slippers". Sandals or flip flops.
enscr 12y ago
If you remove your shoes outside and walk barefoot, you're just sharing the sweat, dirt & germs of your foot with everyone else at home & guests. You'll probably take that to bed with you and sometimes sleep on it. If you must leave your shoes outside, wear an 'inside-only' slippers.
- silencio 12y ago
  I take my shoes off right after I walk in the door of my apartment. It's not for cleanliness or anything as much as it is just I like fuzzy squishy slippers compared to whatever shoes I may have been wearing that day that need to be aired or dried out or whatever they need. Barefoot or not your feet are dirty, the shoes are a different kind of dirty, and there's other stuff on the floor too (like in my instance, I really need to get a roomba because my cat sheds all over the place). So whatever. I'm pretty amazed guests will take their shoes off because everyone that lives here does, like this is what happened when a whole bunch of people came over to my place after my wedding: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chix0r/13618218504/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/chix0r/13618218504/
- colin_jack 12y ago
  You keep your socks on so that's not really an issue. I personally don't let anyone wear shoes in our house, I don't know what they've stepped on so I don't want them dragging anything over the floors and carpets.
  - enscr 12y ago
    Socks doesn't fix the problem completely. Unfortunately, visitors don't like being told that they can keep the socks on while walking on the carpet, but if they are to sit on the bed or put the feet up on the couch, they should take it off. Don't even feel like discussing how clean are fresh are everyone's socks.
    - colin_jack 12y ago
      I wouldn't tell them to ever take their socks off, the only rule in our house is no shoes in the house. Agree socks might not be 100% clean but you have to draw the line somewhere, and the bottom of a sock is bound to be cleaner than the bottom of a shoe.
afterburner 12y ago
Canadians don't wear their shoes indoors either. Because of tracking melting snow indoors (so the habit sticks any other time), or the less comfortable shoes due to such weather, and probably because homes in colder climates are heated a little better, so shoes get uncomfortably hot. But it just makes sense, even in dry summer weather. Or is it blasting AC that makes shoes necessary?
- k-mcgrady 12y ago
  This was one of the things that took me by surprise in Canada. At home I would do it if someone asked me but in Canada even the cable guy and the construction guy removed their shoes as soon as they entered without being asked. Surprising considering they were also going in and out to their van and had to put the shoes on/off repeatedly.
joyeuse6701 12y ago
Mmm, reading that now actually. I'm enjoying it, and I could easily see that if I was younger I'd be enamored by it.
po 12y ago
A few years ago we had to call an ambulance for a medical emergency for a family member (in Tokyo). When the ambulance came, all three EMT workers dutifully slipped their shoes off as they came in. They all had old sneakers so loosely laced that they were basically slippers. Slip-on shoes are basically a must-have thing in Japan.

enko 12y ago

After using the toilet, do you wash your hands, or just wipe them? You've just demonstrated why washing toilets are superior. I cannot understand our misplaced, hollow pride in not adopting something which simply works better. I've even heard some especially crazy people try to say the japanese toilets are "perverted" - the hold tradition has on some people is just insane. Japanese toilets are simply better. For some bizarre reason we've resisted adopting them here. It boggles the mind.

ewoodrich 12y ago
I also used to think of Japanese toilets as weird , and overly complex for the task (that may be partially true) but after buying a 35 dollar bidet attachment for my apartment toilet, using any other bathroom feels barbaric. I've resorted to carrying moist wipes when out of town, but even those are a far cry from the efficiency and cleanliness afforded by a washlet/bidet. I would love for the rest of the country to get over whatever biases or anxiety keeps us from mainstream adoption of an objectively superior system for bathroom hygiene.
- visarga 12y ago
  After experiencing an electronic bidet in Japan for the first time during a holiday, I returned home wondering how on earth did I manage without it. I was sold. I bought a YoYo 770 for 800$ as soon as it appeared in Europe.
  - XorNot 12y ago
    Incidentally, YoYo are now called Quoss for anyone shopping for them. Exact same products, just a different name (also have come down in price by about $200).
chrismonsanto 12y ago
I really think this is something people have to try for themselves. Also, people should travel more. Japan is such an amazing place. Using an American toilet in 2014 is like programming your next web app in classic ASP. Time to upgrade.

LVB 12y ago

I tried, liked and missed Japanese toilets. I certainly wasn't going to be installing a $1000 Toto in my house, but I waited too long to take a chance on a cheap bidet. For <$50 you can get a bidet on Amazon which, though little more than a valve and a spout, works pretty well.

gtaylor 12y ago
$25 and has been good enough for me. No warm water line, but you can spend $20 more for one that has that if you care. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003TPGPUW/ http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003TPGPUW/

rahimnathwani 12y ago

If you're thinking about buying one of these, I can highly recommend the Toto S300e (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009IJ2LM4 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009IJ2LM4) or, if you live in Asia, the TCF4722CS (http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=23047236820 http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=23047236820). These 'washlet' toilet seats can be retro-fitted to normal toilets. It's really easy as long as the flush-water inlet to your toilet has a standard fitting. Oh, and assuming you have a suitable power socket near the toilet. The manual recommends a GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) socket.

ewoodrich 12y ago
Or if you can't afford a 1000 dollar heated/programmable washlet, you can get a no frills cold water attachment for 35 dollars on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001KKRCFA/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1396578800&sr=8-1&pi=SX200_QL40 http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001KKRCFA/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=... I have a similar one and it works great (though it's not as luxuroius as a Toto).
alphakappa 12y ago
You don't need to go Toto. There are Korean companies that make bidets that (in my opinion) are just as good, but are more affordable. Bio Bidet is one of them (BB1000). Stateside, there's Brondell (I recommend the Swash1000) but my preference is for Bio Bidet.
wting 12y ago
There are also cheaper compromises that only replace the toilet lid instead of the entire toilet and without requiring a hot water line. I bought this version last year for $250 but it's $350 now: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005XNW1Q0/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B005XNW1Q0&linkCode=as2&tag=0xgfeujusf-20 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005XNW1Q0/ref=as_li_ss_tl?...
- rahimnathwani 12y ago
  "There are also cheaper compromises that only replace the toilet lid instead of the entire toilet and without requiring a hot water line." Both the models I recommended are of this type (they are just a seat, and they don't require a hot water line). I considered the model you recommended. The main reason I went for the higher-priced models is that they are higher-power, and can heat the incoming water in real-time. The more inexpensive Toto models are lower power, but compensate by having a built-in tank to store water. I guessed (but did not verify) that, on occasion, the tank could run out of hot water before I was done. Does the tank on the B100 always have enough hot water for you?

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

impendia 12y ago

I remember my first visit to a Japanese toilet. I noticed all the buttons after I finished my business and stood up. Wow! What do these do? I bent over the toilet bowl and pushed a button at random...

visarga 12y ago
Deedee?
- rikacomet 12y ago
  "what does this big red pushy button do" :P
w00kie 12y ago
All Japanese models have a pressure sensor built into the seat so that no water comes out unless someone is actually sitting on the toilet.
- Aloisius 12y ago
  That was decidedly not the case when I first visited Japan in 2001. The jet of water that hit the door to the bathroom was quite wet by the time I figured out how to shut the toilet off.
  - prawn 12y ago
    A bidet in a London hotel around 2003 managed to hit me in the eye. I was a clear metre from the bowl. A mistake you make once and then not again!

nkozyra 12y ago

"disinterested" >:(

drderidder 12y ago

Japanese baths are great, too - you can wash your body before getting into the tub, so you're not stewing in your own filth.

dagurp 12y ago
In Iceland you are required to wash before entering a swimming pool. you're likely to be stopped by an employee if you don't

smokey_the_bear 12y ago

In the spirit of too much information that is this thread. I was given a lavette bottle after giving birth, and I've continued using it quite often. http://www.amazon.com/Lavette-Bottle-Perineal-Irrigation-DYND70125H/dp/B000VSXSX2/ http://www.amazon.com/Lavette-Bottle-Perineal-Irrigation-DYN... It's an even cheaper alternative to the cold water attachment, it's portable, and you can fill it with warm water.

AjithAntony 12y ago
This seems interesting. It looks like a regular sports bottle. The comments on that item suggest there are more and smaller holes than a single large opening, for a better flow for this application. Is that the only difference? How does one use it? Is there a straw inside that draws from the bottom of the bottle? Do you need to position it upright, or upside down? These two seem more natural to use, If you didn't have your bottle already, would one of these be more interesting? http://www.amazon.com/Hygienna-Solo-Portable-Cleaning-Solution/dp/B00CDPCHLU/ http://www.amazon.com/Hygienna-Solo-Portable-Cleaning-Soluti... http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Bidet-BB-20-Portable/dp/B004IW5ITO http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Bidet-BB-20-Portable/dp/B004IW5IT...
- smokey_the_bear 12y ago
  The number, shape, and size of holes seem well suited for the bottle's purpose. There's no straw, but you can hold it upright or upside down as long as it's not close to empty. I think I would buy the same one I have over one of those. For this application, I think I value simplicity. Women might have slightly different requirements for this than men too.

rikthevik 12y ago

Make sure you flush before you hit the "blow hot air" button. :/

ragle 12y ago

When I first came to Thailand, I was appalled when one of my friends told me the pistol nozzle (like we use in the US for doing dishes) next to every Thai toilet[1] was for spraying yourself after using the bathroom. This was disgusting to me at first. Echoing a few other comments, I feel like a bidet is something you have to experience yourself before you trust it. Once you do though, I think you are forever changed. On my last trip back to the states, I remember feeling perpetually disgusted that all I had to clean myself with was paper. It's disgusting - barbaric even... you're just smearing waste all over yourself. If you don't feel like spending the money to install a Japanese bidet, a Thai "bum gun" might be a more wallet-friendly option. [1] - http://thatluckyboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/bum_gun_tribute1.jpg http://thatluckyboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/bum_gun_t...

tricolon 12y ago
Those are ubiquitous in Northern Europe as well—yes, including all public bathrooms.
- ardacinar 12y ago
  Are you sure about Northern Europe? I live in Sweden and I haven't encountered anything like that here. (They are common in Finland, though)
llllllllllll 12y ago
Same situation for me in Cambodia. It wasn't until I ran out of toilet paper one time that I caved in and tried the "bum gun". Now it's my preference for sure, cleaner and quicker too.

ChuckMcM 12y ago

FWIW this was one of the 'tour questions' on Google which had (at least when I was there) several bathrooms equipped with washlets. It really is a nice thing, and one of the engineers put a WattsUp meter on one to see if it was wasting power (answer quite economical). Of course in California using water to wash yourself in a drought is probably the wrong thing to do ...

rikacomet 12y ago

One thing I haven't really understood is why exactly is a Indian toilet seat seen as inferior to the English toilet seat. - True that the English seat occupies less space, but its adoption has not always been based on space savings. - True that sitting appears more gentleman like, rather than sitting half subtended in air, but hey who is watching? - True that elderly find the english version easier to use because of the supporting nature of the seat, but its not a hard rule. A hybrid of both (Anglo-Indian) seat is more suited to them, and ailing patients. - The Indian version is more hygienic, as no part of your body directly touches any part of the seat. Besides superior genital cleanliness over time due to wider leg positions. - The Indian version is decisively easier to clean/maintain compared to the English version. - Moreover the Indian version, is more suited to over-weight people than a English version. - And relatively, due to its production in labor intensive market such as India/China, the Indian version is cost-efficient, suited for developing nations, who still have a fairly large population that needs proper sanitation structures.

enscr 12y ago
- Plus squatting is a better posture for properly emptying yourself. Although sitting for longer than 5 minutes is painful and gets worse with age.
- rikacomet 12y ago
  Yeah, that drawback can be seen as a JUST motivation for not taking your time in the toilet always. Even 5 minutes saved one time, is equal to 10-15 minutes everyday. 70-100 minutes a week and around 60-90 hours a year to put that into perspective.
  - enscr 12y ago
    For some, it's not an option.
  - sjtrny 12y ago
    I find my time on the toilet quite productive, it's usually when I have Eureka moments.

jonahx 12y ago

Maybe the hold traditional toilets have on us is another example of the triumph of "worse is better." Whatever else you want to say about them, they are closer to the UNIX tradition than Japanese toilets.

ekianjo 12y ago

By the way "bidet" is a french word in the first place and it has nothing to do with washing your arse :) Bidets are small bathtubs-shaped vessels where you actually wash your feet. The reason they existed is because in the past people didn't wash their whole body every single day, and instead they cleaned at least the most dirty / odorant parts of their bodies this way, more often.

mkempe 12y ago
Actually, the "bidet" is an invention from the early 1700s that was specifically designed to wash intimate parts. The etymology of the word indicates that the bidet is something one rides, by analogy with a small horse. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=bidet http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=bidet http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidet_(meuble) http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidet_(meuble)

Theodores 12y ago

Sorry to sound 'negative', but... I don't know if this is the way the future is going to pan out - water is an increasingly scarce resource and, as it is, we waste a gallon or so of water to lift one's leavings up and over the u-bend. Of all people Bill Gates is probably the expert on what toilets will really be like in the future, allegedly water, toilets, sanitation and health is something he is most interested in. Personally, although I am not into 'standing desks' I am into 'standing toilets', as in the humble urinal. One's aim is easier and there is no seat to remember to put down for the next user. Less water is wasted. I would want one at home so as to avoid 'female complaints' regarding the state of things. Ideally the outflow from the adjacent sink would keep it clean so water wastage really would be minimal. It would be in a room of its own, a very small room with no need for anyone female to ever enter it. I recently replaced an extractor fan in a bathroom. I thought that a quiet fan would be preferable and I was disappointed with the noise made. However, then I realised the real purpose of the fan, it is to make noise to disguise the sound of one leaving one's leavings. I believe that the Japanese toilets have some of this functionality too. Can anyone confirm that?

Taylorious 12y ago
I suppose it depends on where you live. If you live in Arizona it might end up being an issue due to the energy cost of processing the water for reuse. However, if you live in Chicago you aren't going to have a shortage of water anytime soon. I don't really get these water shortage scares people talk about. I can see how it is an issue in remote/poor areas around the world, but a country like the US has nothing to worry about. If fresh water reserves get low we can always desalinate seawater. There are engineering challenges and energy costs to do that, but both are solvable issues. No one is going to die from thirst.
- kissickas 12y ago
  I think a large part of the problem is that it's a "tragedy of the commons" situation. We won't see a huge investment in better recycling and desalinization until it's absolutely required, which would mean that we've already destroyed some aquifers permanently, in some places causing entire aquifers to become unrecoverable [0]. No one is going to die from thirst? Maybe. But a lot of the water loss is in the food-producing middle of the country. People are already starving in the US, and increased food prices will only exacerbate the situation. [1] [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquifer#Subsidence http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquifer#Subsidence (sections subsidence, saltwater intrusion, and salination) [1] https://water.usgs.gov/edu/gwdepletion.html https://water.usgs.gov/edu/gwdepletion.html

masahiro 12y ago

The most important thing to make Japanese office life happy is to provide a latest Japanese toilets. They do care about it a lot!

grifpete 12y ago

I have one. I'll never go back.

bane 12y ago

Japanese (and increasingly Korean) toilets are amazing. I love visiting my in-laws and just using their toilets and feeling unbelievably civilized. My wife, refuses to get one, or even the fancy seat attachments because...tbh...they're freaking expensive. I can basically refit all the toilets in my house for less than the discount price for a single seat...and that's not including the cost of the electrician to put a power source near just one of my toilets. There's also lots of research in her home country that women shouldn't use the bidets in these toilets for various reasons particular to their anatomy. To compare, a Glacier Bay 2-piece high efficiency dual flush elongated toilet is <$100 at my local home depot. Toto Washlet S350e seat with heated seat and warm water bidet is $1,700. I frequently see cheaper Korean versions at my local Asian Market for $800-1200. I saw one at Costco for $650 the other day. If they want to penetrate the market, they need to drop the price significantly, corner the market, then start cranking the price up faster than inflation.

Natsu 12y ago

In case anyone was curious, ビデ is read as "bidet" (i.e. squirt water up your ass). This among the many reasons why it's helpful to at least learn to read kana before visiting, as it makes a lot of things easier--there are an awful lot of English words written in kana that you can decipher (well, French in this particular case, but you get the point I hope).

ranebo 12y ago
Actually bidet button is usually for women, I wouldn't advise pressing it unless you are one, or you will get a blast of water significantly forward of the desired target. おしり(oshiri) is the button thats useful to both sexes.

frozenport 12y ago

I wonder what the effect on overall hygiene is? I wash my hands after every bowl movement, in total (shower, etc) I wash them every 5 hours. Will people now wash their hands less?

gggggggg 12y ago

On reading that it seems like you use paper still. I didnt realise this. Do you use the normal paper before or after the water? Seems like after water and drying to me, but potentially much less? Also, does it do away with the need for women wiping after a pee?

srean 12y ago

I find health faucets http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidet_shower http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidet_shower quite effective, except that one time it went terribly wrong. These are essentially telephone showers installed next to the toilet. You switch them on using a valve/trigger and then manually direct the fire. Simple, cheap and no fuss. This little guy, however, turned out to be a closet fire hose. It pretty much went from 0 to 1000 gallons per sec in an instant and just wouldn't let up, the valve was stuck. The extension cord was twisting and coiling around like crazy with the released pressure, the shower head was going at full blast in my hand, initially directed at my rear, it was continuously pushing my hand away from anything that I was trying to point it to, it give me a visceral understanding of how jet engines work. Working out a sequence of operations in my head to get out of such a situation while caught in a compromised and inflexible position, with only one hand free, was quite a challenge. I am not quite sure if I should be thankful that it wasnt autonomously powered and directed. My first Japanese toilet experience happened @ Google (I was interning there at that time). When the water touched the derriere, it made me flinch and jump with surprise, as I wasnt quite sure what to expect, this was several years ago and Japanese toilets were still an unfamiliar opbject to me. And it really tickles the shit out of you ! (no pun intended) I guess there are ways to choose between a laminar and degrees of non laminar flow (all those controls must be for something), I would expect the former to be somewhat less flinch inducing.

wting 12y ago

Another thing that gets overlooked is the built-in faucet at the top to rinse off hands such that every tank of water gets used twice: http://demenglog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/toilet-seat-topcimg0688--large--my-japan-blog-pwtuo0c4.jpg http://demenglog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/toilet-seat-...

hudibras 12y ago
And another thing that gets overlooked is that the toilet is always in a separate room from the rest of the bathroom (washbasin and tub). It seems weird at first that you have to go down the hall into a phonebooth-sized compartment to do your business. But then you go back to visit family in America and can't stop noticing that you poop 3 feet away from where you brush your teeth...
- seanmcdirmid 12y ago
  Have you ever tried a Chinese shower that is combined with a squat toilet? You have to be careful to not walk into the toilet when you are showering.
- silencio 12y ago
  I actually have that in my apartment in SF. It may be because it's a three bedroom place with only one bath though. It's nice because someone can use the toilet while the shower is in use, but then you have to walk to the kitchen to wash your hands....wish someone had the foresight to add the faucet-top toilet ;)
  - stbtrax 12y ago
    why not add it yourself?

deleted 12y ago

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azernik 12y ago
This is a solution for a private bathroom, not a public one. Most public toilets in Japan are not these models.
rahimnathwani 12y ago
The water is sprayed from a wand. The wand automatically retracts into itself when not in use. When retracting and/or expanding, it washes itself. You never touch the want, and it's not expanded when you're doing your business, only afterwards when you turn on the spray.

CGudapati 12y ago

You will probably hate me for giving some graphic details but I had never used Toilet paper for the first 21 years of my life.(I am 22 BTW). I didn't even use a bidet. Just my left hand and water. I know this might be considered very disgusting but it is very common from where I am.

MarkTee 12y ago
I'm curious: Did you first try using toilet paper in another country/region, or it something that has recently been introduced to where you grew up?
- CGudapati 12y ago
  I still don't use toilet paper. I used one when I had access to it(in a hotel). I knew toilet paper existed as once when I saw it in movies or read about it.
  - Omniusaspirer 12y ago
    Can I inquire as to where you grew up? I've genuinely never heard of anyone using just their hand, but I suppose it makes sense for poorer parts of the world. (no offense intended whatsoever)
    - CGudapati 12y ago
      India. No offense taken. FWIW, I can afford toilet paper. I just don't use it as I am habituated to using my hand. In case you are wondering, I can guarantee that the number of people who use their hand to clean their bottoms is much more than the combined population of USA.

harichinnan 12y ago

I was about to sleep but definitely had to add my contribution to bum washing. Most Indian toilets have a water faucet next to your seat. You always wash with water using your left hand(Right one is reserved for more auspicious occasions like eating food or shaking hands). I still remember the horror of my first trip to US and finding that you have to use rough sheets of paper to essentially scrath it off. But on the flip side, toilets in India are always damp and dirty with filthy cess pools of mold and .... God help you if you ever have to use a public toilet in India.

chx 12y ago

Toto makes travel washlets. Imagining travel without one is like trying to remember how we used to code before Google and Stackoverflow: yes we did it, for sure, but I just can't fathom how. It's also a relatively cheap and easy way to get acquianted with this nice facet of civilization. There are other travel washlets, not made by Toto, skip those. Search eBay for toto travel washlet, less than $100 shipped. I had a particularly bad day at a London client onsite and out of sheer desperation Googled for travel washlet (I have one normal at home and was missing it badly), not that I had any idea how you would even construct one but lo and behold, there it is.

silencio 12y ago
I would imagine peri bottles (or close enough, any kind of squeeze bottle) would do something similar in a pinch. I've only heard girlfriends with kids rave about them since it's usually only used after pregnancy, but (to be a bit TMI) pre-IUD years when I had periods, travel squeeze bottles totally saved the day for when wet wipes felt inadequate and I couldn't easily shower.

drak0n1c 12y ago

This guy uses the bidet before wiping? Whenever I'm in Japan I wipe before bidet, that way at least the initial blast of water doesn't spread too much gunk.

ntaso 12y ago

Questions, I couldn't find an answer to: How do you make sure that the water doesn't merely distribute your feces all over your butt? How do women prevent that feces get sprayed onto or even into their vagina, since the water seems to be coming from the rear side of the toilet?

PavlovsCat 12y ago

The future? What about the past? Washing your butt so it's clean = yeah, that's pretty cool. Eating the right food (and being lucky to have good digestion) so that normally the paper you wipe with comes up white = priceless. Of course you'll have to wash your hands, but still, we're not hardwired to make a mess every time we defecate. Maybe you could say that's excessive smoke indicating the engine isn't running right. Japanese toilets aren't a fix, they're a workaround.

theli 12y ago

Never been to Japan, but from description its the same type of toilets they have in South Korea. Yeah, feel much cleaner, I wonder how is it hard to get same setup in US