Reading time: About 6 minutes.
Mike and I have just returned from Japan, and anyone within earshot of me now knows I am obsessed with Japanese toilets. Who wouldn’t be? They’re clean, usually have warm seats, and sometimes provide background noise to cover unpleasant sounds. This doesn’t even get into how clean one feels after the tiny shower wand washes all the parts needing cleaning.
My obsession with Japanese toilets began during the pandemic when there were stampedes on toilet paper. Before the pandemic, Mike, our resident “gadget guy,” talked about getting a Toto Washlet, which is an add-on bidet toilet seat. The idea of a shower wand spraying water onto my undercarriage intimidated me, and the price tag was a little high for something I didn’t understand. When we struggled to find toilet paper at the store, though, I caved.
We purchased the Toto Washlet S550e. It has a remote control and features an auto-open/close seat and lid, a water heater, a seat heater, and an air dryer, among other cool things. (The heated seat is THE BEST.) The remote allows you to customize the strength and location of the spray.
Suffice it to say, it only took a couple of tries before my obsession took root. Now, when I go to a bathroom without a Washlet, I balk at the touch of a cold seat, and if necessary, I moisten toilet paper to get as clean as possible. Dry TP just doesn’t cut it anymore.
Spoiled? Yes. Crazy. Maybe. But you will be, too, if you experience a Japanese bidet.
(Toto has since come out with an updated version of our Washlet. If you’re curious, here’s a link on Amazon.)
Japanese Bidets vs. European Ones
Japanese and European bidets are completely different creatures, so I need to pause here to share some of the differences. European bidets are porcelain (cold!) toilet-looking structures that sit apart from the toilet, requiring the user to straddle and possibly use their hands to wash all the bits below. I say “possibly” because I have never used them and am only speculating based on the soap and towels often paired with these curiosities. Maybe I would be just as obsessed if I tried them, but I can’t quite get my brain around them. Again, I’m intimidated. Which is silly, I know, so the next time I’m around a European bidet, I’ll try to get over my squeamishness to give it a whirl.
Unlike European bidets, Japanese bidets require no straddling. You just sit on the toilet as you normally do. They warm your bum, sing pleasant tunes, and gently wash private areas with the swish of a wand. Some even perfume the air or color the water with “color therapy” lights.
Below is a collage of remotes with some possibile features shown as cute little icons. The remote for our Washlet is the one on the left. The other two are from public bathrooms in Japan.
Japanese Public Restrooms — The Movie
In preparation for our trip to Japan, Mike and I went to see Perfect Days, a movie about Japanese toilets starring Koji Yakusho as Hirayama, a toilet cleaner in Tokyo.
Okay—the movie isn’t actually about Japanese toilets. It’s about Hirayama’s life. His work is just one aspect of the whole picture. But the toilets feature so prominently in Perfect Days that they become a character in and of themselves.
And why not? The restrooms in the movie are part of The Tokyo Toilet Project. They are award-winning architectural marvels featuring sweeping rooflines, natural materials used in unique ways, and glass that goes from transparent to opaque when the door is locked from the inside. They were created to provide safe, clean spaces that are accessible and comfortable for everyone, regardless of gender, age, or disability. Toto, the company that makes our Washlet bidet, was also consulted on this project to create bidets that can withstand use in a public restroom environment.
The Tokyo Toilet Project recognized that fancy architecture and Toto Washlets are not the only way to make public restrooms more accessible. They also need to be maintained and kept clean. This is where Hirayama in Perfect Days comes in. He is part of the Tokyo Toilets Maintenance team, which is a real thing. They clean these restrooms three times a day and deep-clean them once a month. How civilized!
Changing the Definition of Civilized, One Paper Towel at a Time
With all my admiration for Japanese public restrooms, I was initially thrown off by the lack of paper towels and trash bins near the sinks. I had no where to dry my hands. And, on the rare occasion there were paper towels, there were not trash bins to toss away the used cloths. To my ignorant eye, it seemed oddly uncivilized for such a civilized country. But, again, I was wrong.
Back in the mid-1990s, members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult released sarin, a deadly gas, into trash bins on the metro lines. The attacks killed 13 people and injured hundreds more. Since then, public trash bins have been removed and the Japanese have taken it upon themselves to carry their trash home and dispose of it there.
Not only do people take responsibility for their own trash, they also take responsibility for drying their hands after washing them in a public restroom. They carry hand towels/handkerchiefs with them to use for such purposes. Thanks to my fellow travelers, I was clued into the use of these handkerchiefs and I fell in love with all the cute designs, like the simple version of the one I purchased shown below. It came in handy so many times during our trip, not just for drying my hands. Now, it's a sustainable staple in my purse. How civilized.
It is perhaps not civilized to talk about toilet habits at all, especially in my first post back from a lovely vacation. You might think it more civilized to start with the sights I saw or the food I ate. But this—this is something that we all must deal with several times a day. When we discover ways to make it less mundane, more hygienic and eco-friendly, and dare I say, more enjoyable, isn’t it the most civilized to share that obsession, er, information, with others?
The links to the Toto Washlet bidets are affiliate links to Amazon. Beyond that, there are no affiliate links in this post.
Wow - it's so interesting to learn how other cultures do things, and do them quite well. Dirty public bathrooms are so unpleasant, and often unavoidable. We could learn so much from the Japanese!
Welcome Home! I loved this piece. Jimmy Kimmel was in Japan too and told similar stories on his show. So, not so weird as you might think. I do look forward to hearing more too!