I've been meaning to write about Japanese toilets since a friend told me what they can do about six months before I came to Japan. Well, now that I'm back I finally get around to it ;-)
Next to the toilets Westerners have come to view as the standard kind, there are two other types of toilets in Japan.
On the one hand, there are super-modern high-tech western-style toilets that do everything for you: You get a heated seat. They make flushing sounds so you don't disturb your fellow toilet-goers with the noises you're making. They have a built-in bidet functionality that allows you to adjust not only the pressure of the water, but also the temperature. And some of them even flush automatically when you stand up. Here's a picture:
Next to the toilets Westerners have come to view as the standard kind, there are two other types of toilets in Japan.
On the one hand, there are super-modern high-tech western-style toilets that do everything for you: You get a heated seat. They make flushing sounds so you don't disturb your fellow toilet-goers with the noises you're making. They have a built-in bidet functionality that allows you to adjust not only the pressure of the water, but also the temperature. And some of them even flush automatically when you stand up. Here's a picture:
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| A high-tech toilet... |
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| ...and its control panel up close |
And on the other hand, there are low-fi Japanese-style squat toilets. The simplest ones have have a deep hole instead of a water-based flushing mechanism and do not even provide toilet paper. If you've never seen one, have a look:
It's easy to get used to the high-tech toilets, of course. But I found that once you figure out how to squat properly, the squat toilets are not bad at all. The best part is that you don't have to worry about the cleanliness of the toilet seat because you don't come into contact with any part of the toilet.
Apart from that, there is another thing that is really great about toilets in Japan: they're free, and they're ubiquitous. Not quite as ubiquitous as vending machines, but there's always one nearby if you need one. It seems to me that what Japan is lacking in public trash bins, it makes up for in public toilets.
Apart from that, there is another thing that is really great about toilets in Japan: they're free, and they're ubiquitous. Not quite as ubiquitous as vending machines, but there's always one nearby if you need one. It seems to me that what Japan is lacking in public trash bins, it makes up for in public toilets.
