Live data from Hacker News

Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?

priceonomics.com

91–100 of 380 posts

Re: Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?

#91
post #39
post #5

Toto'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 relations…

People don’t pick the toilets in their houses? I find that hard to imagine. People not picking the pipes or bricks that are used I can see, but the toilet? No way. Before I buy a toilet I want to at least sit on it and I cannot imagine anyone feeling any other way about that.

Even in most custom built homes you only pick the fit and finish and not the actual product. This is mainly done for cost reasons since specific products means you need someone to take the time to review existing plans to make sure everything fits and is spec'ed out properly.

Re: Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?

#92
The only reason I do not have one is that I don't have a power plug near my toilet. It has been my experience that women, once they try them, especially love bidets with built in dryers.

The marketing could be better. Education comes first. If non-bidet toilets were contrasted as crude, unhygienic and downright barbaric, I think we'd see a lot more demand for them and bidet makers should be offering them free to restaurants and clothing stores to place in women's bathrooms.

But for me, the problem still comes back to power.

Re: Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?

#93

Every 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 wit…

shattaf's (North American salad sprayer but for the restroom) work much better then the Japanese toilets, however I would only want to use one in my residence not a public/work restroom. They are common in Brazil and the Middle East, I think the heat makes being "unclean" a bigger issue.

Re: Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?

#94
The odd thing is, in Turkey we universally have a nozzle on the back of the toilet that just is a stream of water that falls in an arc forwards. You control it from a tap on the side, on the wall. You turn on the stream and then angle yourself onto it, or wet your toilet paper a bit when wiping.

Way less toilet paper (just to wipe&dry at the end), cleans way faster, your bum is not itchy, and it costs nothing. The toilet bowls come with this.

I hate American toilets. This can't just be a Turkish quirk, right?

Re: Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?

#95
post #55
post #46

I think it's just because the Japanese are really obsessed with cleanliness and others are not.

I have a shower next to my toilet. Take that, Japanese people!!

Do you also have an antibacterial pencil or notebook? Did you buy your car because it has an antibacterial steering wheel?

http://articles.latimes.com/1996-11-21/news/mn-1397_1_cleani...

Re: Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?

#97
post #30
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you read the full article, only the cheapo, probably ineffective solutions cost $100, you're looking more at $500 and up for a good unit. And if you want a warmer, you'll need a GFCI outlet installed next to the toilet, which most US homes do not have. You'll want a warmer in many areas of the US during the winter. So you're looking at quite a bit of cash there. Edit: Please read what I wrote. I'm not saying most…

Most ? Maybe it's just because I live in the Northeast, but I've only very rarely seen a bathroom that did not have a GFCI outlet. (My current apartment has four: two in the bathroom, two in the kitchen.)

And most of them are usually not near a toilet. While the parts are cheap, it's not a trivial matter to install an outlet where one hasn't been planned in a finished room.

Re: Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?

#98

$15 in parts from your local hardware store gets you the basic tools you need to build a water-powered hygiene system. All you need is the "spray head" with flexible hose [0], plus the adaptor to make a kitchen part fit the bathroom piping (for some reason, kitchen and bathroom have non-interchangeable parts). You hang it on a hook next to the toilet, and you use it to clean yourself. I cannot live without these, and…

You aren't feeling like doing this yourself, several companies make systems like this for cleaning cloth diapers before dropping them in the pail.

http://www.handyspray.com/Cloth-Diaper-Sprayer.html

Re: Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?

#99
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People don’t pick the toilets in their houses? I find that hard to imagine. People not picking the pipes or bricks that are used I can see, but the toilet? No way. Before I buy a toilet I want to at least sit on it and I cannot imagine anyone feeling any other way about that.

Even in most custom built homes you only pick the fit and finish and not the actual product. This is mainly done for cost reasons since specific products means you need someone to take the time to review existing plans to make sure everything fits and is spec'ed out properly.

In America or in Japan? I know for a fact if you are doing a new build or renovation in America your choice of involvement is entirely up to you. Some people pick out specific shower heads and toilets and tile (even on a $250,000 renovation or million dollar new build). Others let professionals pick and choose what they want.

There is an entire industry of show rooms for high end bathrooms and kitchens with salesmen to help you pick out the right bath tub or dishwasher.

Re: Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?

#100
post #75
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People don’t pick the toilets in their houses? I find that hard to imagine. People not picking the pipes or bricks that are used I can see, but the toilet? No way. Before I buy a toilet I want to at least sit on it and I cannot imagine anyone feeling any other way about that.

How many people build their own house, as opposed to buying one from a previous owner or a developer? Also, remember that not everyone owns their own house. Many people rent apartments or houses from other people, or live with families. Between all of those factors, I would say a very small percentage of toilets in this country were picked out by the person using them.

Hm, you are probably right. My perspective is probably skewed. My grandparents built their own houses (altogether three, actually), my parents built their own house – and they really picked everything down to the “Which toilets should there be?” detail level.
Post reply on HN