Japanese Toilets
Japanese toilets are famous for their high-tech functionality, heated toilet seats, and even those fake flushing noise buttons installed in women’s restrooms in Japan. The king of toilets in Japan is Toto, the company that brings warmth and comfort to Japanese behinds.
Overview of Japanese Toilets
It seems as if one of the first things every foreign tourist wants to do is visit a Japanese bathroom–and not just because they need to go after a long flight. They are curious to see if the rumors are true that Japan has the coolest, most cutting-edge toilets in the world.
The answer is a resounding yes! In Japan, locals enjoy a special comfort that most of the rest of the world is not privy(!) to, namely, warm, heated toilet seats with a perplexing menu of remote-controlled wash, rinse, and dry functions.
Japanese High-Tech Toilets
Japanese high tech toilets are found not only in Japanese homes, but often even in public places like restaurants, airports, and department stores.
Features of High-Tech Japanese Toilets
Built-in Rinse Sink
Most home toilet units in Japan have a built-in hand rinse sink. Upon flushing, water is emitted from the faucet above the tank for a quick hand rinse.
Large Flush or Small Flush
Most toilets in Japan have a water-saving flush function that allows bathroom-goers to select either a large flush or small flush, depending upon your flushing needs.
Heated Toilet Seats
Despite Japan’s frigid winters, most Japanese homes do not have central heat. As a result, Japanese bathrooms, and in turn, Japanese toilet seats, tend to be quite chilly during the cold months. In order to combat this unpleasantry, Japan’s high-tech toilets have heated toilet seats to give your bum a warm, cozy welcome year round.
Remote Control Toilet Technology
Japan’s toilets feature remote-controlled washlets, which are actually little retractable wands that shoot jets of air and water at your rear, providing thorough cleansing of all areas below. These electronic bidets are equipped with controls that adjust water temperature, pressure, and stream type. Many even come equipped with massage and drying functions!
Toto Toilets
Japanese high tech toilets are found not only in Japanese homes, but often even in public places like restaurants, airports, and department stores.
Toto, a Japanese company based in Kyushu, is the undisputed king of high-tech toilets. Toto is Japan’s leading manufacturer of cutting-edge toilets.
Happily, Toto toilet technology has begun making its way overseas, and is now available in the U.S. and elsewhere. You can even now buy Toto toilet seats on Amazon!
Women’s Public Toilets in Japan
Another unique aspect of Japanese toilet culture are Japanese women’s public toilets. In Japan, women tend to be embarrassed by the bodily noises that occur naturally while performing #2. As a result, many women are in the habit of flushing excessively in order to disguise their un-ladylike flatulence.
In order to combat this obvious waste of water, many women’s bathrooms are now equipped with a push-button device that makes a flushing sound, so that Japanese women can now hide their bodily noises without wasting water. The newest models are even hand-motion activated!
Japanese Squat Toilets
Before toilets in Japan went cutting edge, they were down right barbaric. The traditional Japanese toilet is a “squat” toilet that is essentially little more than a hole in the ground.
Foreigners are often perplexed about which way to face when using these toilets. For the record, you should face forward (toward the toilet) when squatting. Just make sure to take good aim!
Japanese Toilet Trivia
Men: Beware of the Cleaning Lady!
If you’re a male and you find yourself in a public restroom in Japan, don’t be surprised if a female cleaning lady casually walks in and begins cleaning around you even while you’re performing your business! It’s really only shocking the first time. Stay in Japan long enough and eventually you’ll probably no longer even glance up when the cleaning lady strolls in.
Stock Up on Toilet Tissue!
Beware that some public restrooms, particularly those in train stations, don’t have toilet paper. Instead, there are toilet paper vending machines that dispense paper for a fee of about 100 yen or so. Another way to avoid being paperless with your pants down is to always keep on hand a generous supply of free tissue packets that are commonly passed out on the streets of Japan.
Poop Powered Motorcycle
As the name suggests, this, um, eco-friendly poop-powered motorcycle, developed by Japanese toilet king Toto, not only runs on human #2 waste, but the seat doubles as a depository for continual refueling! As green (brown?) as this idea may be, I think we’d be better off if this did NOT spread to the masses!
As you can see, Japanese toilets are far more than a place to simply go to the bathroom. They are a unique tourist attraction not to be missed while in Japan!
