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The Rise of the Japanese Toilet

nytimes.com

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Re: The Rise of the Japanese Toilet

#101

Post by neves »

layer8 wrote: post #75
dep_b wrote: post #4

A bidet is standard equipment in Argentinian homes, even the poorest houses have it. Once you get used to it, it’s incomprehensible that in other countries people just wipe and…hope for the best. But often it’s hard to install one in bathrooms that are not designed for it. So a Japanese toilet is a somewhat over the top solution in our house.

> it’s incomprehensible that in other countries people just wipe and…hope for the best. Nowadays many people use wet wipes. Probably less environmentally friendly, but they solve the same problem.

This is really terrible. Expensive and anti ecological.

Also used water sprays all my life

Maybe someday Americans will notice that they are the different ones.

Re: The Rise of the Japanese Toilet

#102

Post by PNewling »

layer8 wrote: post #75
dep_b wrote: post #4

A bidet is standard equipment in Argentinian homes, even the poorest houses have it. Once you get used to it, it’s incomprehensible that in other countries people just wipe and…hope for the best. But often it’s hard to install one in bathrooms that are not designed for it. So a Japanese toilet is a somewhat over the top solution in our house.

> it’s incomprehensible that in other countries people just wipe and…hope for the best. Nowadays many people use wet wipes. Probably less environmentally friendly, but they solve the same problem.

Less environmentally friendly and greatly more damaging to the infrastructure. Spain is even looking to introduce legislation to reduce/remove their use[0].

[0] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/may/28/spain-to...

Re: The Rise of the Japanese Toilet

#103

Post by [deleted] »

jfim wrote: post #41
mixmastamyk wrote: post #11

These are neat, but not an option for those in rentals/apartments. Instead, on the advice here, about five years ago I bought a “bum gun” from Home Depot, the fancy stainless steel version for maybe $60 at the time. https://www.homedepot.com/b/Bath-Bidets-Handheld-Bidets/N-5y... These deliver 90% of the benefits for under 10% of the cost, and less maintenance. It’s like a small metal garden hose with gun shaped valve…

They're totally installable in a rental, takes about half an hour to install the first time, and about ten minutes to remove when you move out. The only thing is that one will typically need to run an extension cord to reach the toilet, but typically apartment bathrooms are pretty small anyway so it's not a particularly long extension cord.

[deleted]

Re: The Rise of the Japanese Toilet

#104

Post by martin-t »

unhappy_meaning wrote: post #24

In almost all of SE Asia, especially Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, all of the toilets come with a hand-held sprayer. They also had this in the Doha airport and I'm not sure how common this style is outside of SE Asia but I'm guessing it's common. Japanese style bidets are very common in Korean households as well and I'm sure its easily a billion dollar business. It is nice but the functionality is quite difficult for…

Off-topic but can we please stop censoring words such as shitting?

It disgusts me but at least I understand it on platforms like YouTube which penalize those who don't self-censor but it has no purpose here.

I find it worrying how easily people accept this newspeak and spread it of their own free will.

Re: The Rise of the Japanese Toilet

#105

Post by seanmcdirmid »

aatd86 wrote: post #90
unhappy_meaning wrote: post #24

In almost all of SE Asia, especially Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, all of the toilets come with a hand-held sprayer. They also had this in the Doha airport and I'm not sure how common this style is outside of SE Asia but I'm guessing it's common. Japanese style bidets are very common in Korean households as well and I'm sure its easily a billion dollar business. It is nice but the functionality is quite difficult for…

computer vision will solve this and direct the waterjet in yer bullseye. :D ai...ai everywhere.

It’s not like Japanese toilets don’t have a lot of tech in them already. A sprayer that sprays only in the right place seems very feasible.

Re: The Rise of the Japanese Toilet

#106

Post by layer8 »

PNewling wrote: post #102
layer8 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it’s incomprehensible that in other countries people just wipe and…hope for the best. Nowadays many people use wet wipes. Probably less environmentally friendly, but they solve the same problem.

Less environmentally friendly and greatly more damaging to the infrastructure. Spain is even looking to introduce legislation to reduce/remove their use[0]. [0] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/may/28/spain-to...

That link talks about plastic items, but the wet wipes I’m familiar with are 100% plant-based and biodegradable, and dissolve in water.

Edit, to clarify: The wipes in question have been certified according to the EDANA Flushability Guidelines, which have been adopted into law in some countries, and there is also a related Spanish standard UNE 149002:2019 (“Acceptance criteria for disposable products via toilet”). The producer (Essity) claims that they dissolve similarly quickly to regular toiled paper.

It might very well be that the wipes still cause problems, but it’s not like these are plastic items that are flushed down the toilet in an unregulated way.

Re: The Rise of the Japanese Toilet

#107

Post by seanmcdirmid »

neves wrote: post #101
layer8 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it’s incomprehensible that in other countries people just wipe and…hope for the best. Nowadays many people use wet wipes. Probably less environmentally friendly, but they solve the same problem.

This is really terrible. Expensive and anti ecological. Also used water sprays all my life Maybe someday Americans will notice that they are the different ones.

I don’t think Americans are using wet wipes on their toilet business, at least in any meaningful numbers, maybe parent was talking about some other region of the world? There are plenty of regions of the world where TP is the norm, eg in China you aren’t going to find sprayers or Japanese style toilet seats, and many toilets are still squats.

Re: The Rise of the Japanese Toilet

#108

Post by seanmcdirmid »

dataviz1000 wrote: post #78
dfxm12 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it's standard equipment, why wouldn't bathrooms be designed for it? New expectations? Something else?

Every bathroom in Thailand and Argentina is built with a drain in the floor. It's forward thinking construction. Otherwise, without the drain, either the bum gun or the bidet can and will easily damage the floor and anything below it.

These are called wet rooms, and usually they just have a shower that hits directly on the floor (at least in lower end ones outside of luxury hotels).

Re: The Rise of the Japanese Toilet

#109

Post by seanmcdirmid »

Tadpole9181 wrote: post #95
dep_b wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Standard equipment in Argentina, not in Northern Europe or the US, where you would have to be in the opportunity to completely redo your bathroom to accommodate it. Otherwise you need to rearrange, or go for a Japanese toilet.

Completely redo a bathroom? The barrier to entry is replacing the seat with one that connects to the existing waterline. I've got one and it took 10 minutes to install - and 5 of those were just cleaning first.

For the spray nozzle sure. It would only work in particularly hot climates though, so maybe Arizona and Florida in the summer. There is a reason northern Asia goes without or with heated Japanese toilets instead (they also warm the water so you don’t hate yourself).

Re: The Rise of the Japanese Toilet

#110

Post by [deleted] »

exhilaration wrote: post #36
sublinear wrote: post #35

I think paper is perfectly fine for most people who do not have certain medical problems, given a few prerequisites. The main one is diet. Eat enough fiber so it's not a mess in the first place. This has many other benefits too. The next in priority is wet wipes. I strongly prefer them, and they are portable unlike a bidet. They are super useful while away from the toilet as well. After that there's technique. I am c…

Those wet wipes shouldn't be flushed down the down the toilet, even if they're labeled "flushable", here's a nice PDF infographic from the city of Los Angeles explaining why: https://sanitation.lacity.gov/san/sandocview?docname=cnt0365...

[deleted]
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