Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?
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Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?
1–10 of 380 posts
Re: Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?
#2The US is a notoriously price-sensitive market. For a lot of folks, they wouldn't consider paying $1000+ for a toilet when the most basic American Standard can be found for about $125. A lot of people would find it hard to justify an order of magnitude price increase.
I know Boston has a Toto showroom in its North End, but I really cant consider it due to the rules of my apartment building.
Re: Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?
#3If you sit too much and you've got hemorrhoids.... get one. Now.
Re: Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?
#4I might in the paranoid minority on this, but here are some concerns I have:
* How does the toilet know that everything is clean? With toilet paper, you can just wipe with new toilet paper until there is no more residue.
* What is the algorithm for the toilet's spraying? Does it end up spreading diluted feces around, or is it careful to spray outward-in?
* What happens if feces end up on the nozzle? Is there some kind of auto-cleaning mechanism? Otherwise it might end up spraying old feces back to me.
Re: Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?
#5Toto's primary sales channel is "If you build a house or office in Japan and don't specifically talk to your architect/contractor about your post-bowel movement preferences we will take the liberty of using the most current model Toto has available and then invoice you cost plus labor plus 50%."
Toto does not have that relationship with the person responsible for picking your toilet.
Why does Toto have that relationship with the guy who picked my toilet? They've got a sales rep in Ogaki. His most important job is making sure they know of every business start for a construction company and that every time it happens the company gets a wreath (that's considered auspicious and is socially mandatory to buy when someone close to you starts a shop) and the principals get invited out drinking. Toto is, naturally, buying. The sales guy will not be so gauche as to mention "Say, apropos of nothing, do you do cost-plus projects? We have a proposition for you which will put $100 extra in your pocket for every bathroom you build."
Re: Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?
#6I might in the paranoid minority on this, but here are some concerns I have: * How does the toilet know that everything is clean? With toilet paper, you can just wipe with new toilet paper until there is no more residue. * What is the algorithm for the toilet's spraying? Does it end up spreading diluted feces around, or is it careful to spray outward-in? * What happens if feces end up on the nozzle? Is there some kin…
They explain it at least the first part, saying most people still use a little toilet paper for drying (and presumably checking)
Re: Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?
#7I might in the paranoid minority on this, but here are some concerns I have: * How does the toilet know that everything is clean? With toilet paper, you can just wipe with new toilet paper until there is no more residue. * What is the algorithm for the toilet's spraying? Does it end up spreading diluted feces around, or is it careful to spray outward-in? * What happens if feces end up on the nozzle? Is there some kin…
- It's like washing your hands vs. wiping them off with a paper towel. You should wipe clean first, then you water clean.
- The sprayer is manually controlled: when you're done using and flushing, then you wash & dry. It doesn't just stick out the whole time.
Re: Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?
#8I might in the paranoid minority on this, but here are some concerns I have: * How does the toilet know that everything is clean? With toilet paper, you can just wipe with new toilet paper until there is no more residue. * What is the algorithm for the toilet's spraying? Does it end up spreading diluted feces around, or is it careful to spray outward-in? * What happens if feces end up on the nozzle? Is there some kin…
They explain it at least the first part, saying most people still use a little toilet paper for drying (and presumably checking)
Ah, missed that - thanks.
Re: Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?
#9Every one of these articles gets the pitch of these toilets completely wrong - for every person, and in every scenario, these are not universally better.
Consider the following experiment:
Smear some mud on your arm. Now, using a jet stream the power of a squirt gun and very low precision, wash it all off in 10 seconds. Not so easy. Then - imagine if you put mud on a place with hair! Not only will it not be clean without some actual washing, we haven't even gotten to the drying part yet.
Fact of the matter is, these do not replace toilet paper. I thought they were OK (Google) until I decided to use toilet paper after - and I was shocked and disappointed. My routine simply got longer and more complex, with a small value add of washing with water instead of dry paper.
Sorry about the grim detail - I think the 'squeamish about bathroom routine' point of the article is right - just in the wrong way!
Re: Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?
#10Do these improve upon the ergonomics of the common toilet? I'm thinking of the comparison between sitting and squatting positions.