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Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?

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

#231

Post by wilfra »

ido wrote: post #174
FrojoS wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't have the source handy, but I remember there were at least two very attractive features that started the trend of "advanced" toilets in Japan: 1) A seat heater: Bathrooms used to be unheated so without this it would be very cold in the winter. Adding a heated seated was much cheaper than adding a room heater. 2) An artificial sound to overlay embarrassing farting sounds: Without this feature, it was common for…

2) An artificial sound to overlay embarrassing farting sounds: Without this feature, it was common for Japanese women to constantly use the flush in order to create a louder sound. This was obviously a huge waste water. Was this an issue because Japanese walls are thinner? Or homes smaller? Farting isn't considered particularly appetizing here either but I don't remember a single time this has been an issue (or ever…

A combination of a collectivist culture and crazy expensive real estate leads to more people living in smaller homes and in closer proximity to each others bowel movements.

The Japanese diet also probably plays a role......

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

#232

Post by dholowiski »

eob wrote: post #161
s_henry_paulson wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what I read on the internet 25-40% of people out there seem to stand up to wipe.. and I have to believe that's largely due to people never discussing how they use the restroom.

No, they stand because that part of the world is used to squatting when they go to the bathroom. The "toilet as throne" model is from the west. Over there, historically, toilets are built into the floor. The toilet bowl is a rounded-rectangle depression in the floor rather than something that sticks out of it. You stand with one foot on either side of the bowl and squat while you do your business. I prefer Western to…

This has been discussed many times on Reddit, and there are many, many people in the USA who stand up to wipe.

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

#233

Post by nikatwork »

crusso wrote: post #87
radley wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- 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.

Regarding the sprayer, the question is not necessarily what happens to it when it's not spraying water... when the nozzle is in the process of spraying you, it's unavoidable that some of the contaminated splatter goes back into the nozzle. Anyone who uses that toilet will inevitably share the germ cultures from one another's feces. That doesn't strike me as very sanitary.

Unless you can poop at a higher pressure than the stream of water exiting the nozzle, the poop isn't going to work back in there.

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

#235

Post by wilfra »

blazingfrog2 wrote: post #177
FrojoS wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't have the source handy, but I remember there were at least two very attractive features that started the trend of "advanced" toilets in Japan: 1) A seat heater: Bathrooms used to be unheated so without this it would be very cold in the winter. Adding a heated seated was much cheaper than adding a room heater. 2) An artificial sound to overlay embarrassing farting sounds: Without this feature, it was common for…

While we're knee-deep into the toilet conversation, you make an interesting observation. I'm originally from France and have lived in California for over 11 years but, to this day, I'm still astonished at how little embarrassment there is in American toilets (my experience is limited to the mens rooms) as far as unpleasant noise goes. It is obviously a fact of life but, where I come from, denial is king in that depar…

For working class white American men, that is not limited to public restrooms. They're doing it at home too and laughing about it to their wives/girlfriends/kids - who probably call them disgusting to which they laugh even more.

People with more class and manners tend toward the French way of doing it.

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

#236

Post by hnriot »

Firehed wrote: post #153
hnriot wrote: post #136

I wouldn't want a bidet like contraption, it's just massive overkill for something that humans have turned into a big deal. People seemed to manage for hundreds of centuries just fine without computerized toilets. Utterly ridiculous and a good example of the first world having gone crazy. These are just extortion, taking advantage of a cultural "issue" in a first world country like Japan. I can't believe hn are even…

As technology improves, so does our standard of living. We also went for millennia without computers and cars, yet we have no problem discussing those. Heck, the species survived without medicine for the vast majority of its existence; yet now we have it we'd never go back (and attempting to do so would be legitimately considered inhumane). So I fail to see how discussing a sanitation issue is a first-world problem.

because the rest of world crap in a hole in the ground!

medicine has actually been with humans for centuries, but yes, mankind managed just fine without medicine. Most things that kill us (besides predators) are the result of technology, like agricultural-era based diseases and the more modern pollutions in the water and air. antibiotics, however, are a welcome modern addition...

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

#237

Post by wilfra »

miahi wrote: post #104
w1ntermute wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> every visitor to your house would make a comment requiring you to justify having "fringe" bathroom habits. Wouldn't this have been the case in Japan in the early 80s too, when Washlets first came to the market?

Not really. The Japanese have a hygiene tradition, so new cleaning devices are highly thought of.

I guess this doesn't extend to oral hygiene?

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

#238

Post by nikatwork »

bagosm wrote: post #29

I cant believe how overenthusiastic this article is. From one of the reviews it quotes: “Going to the bathroom has become an enjoyable experience.” Other than they might as well be good, they are certainly a novelty unless you have very specific reasons to get one. Also another thing to fear is cameras and wifi, it's japanese after all! Somebody is pushin some high-tech loos! I'd rather know how to use the three seas…

Try one before passing judgement. Seriously, try one. It's a quasi-religious experience.

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

#239

Post by hnriot »

teejaygreen wrote: post #143
hnriot wrote: post #136

I wouldn't want a bidet like contraption, it's just massive overkill for something that humans have turned into a big deal. People seemed to manage for hundreds of centuries just fine without computerized toilets. Utterly ridiculous and a good example of the first world having gone crazy. These are just extortion, taking advantage of a cultural "issue" in a first world country like Japan. I can't believe hn are even…

I wouldn't want a car like contraption, it's just massive overkill for something that humans have turned into a big deal. People seemed to manage for hundreds of centuries just fine without motorized horses. Utterly ridiculous and a good example of the first world having gone crazy. These are just extortion, taking advantage of a cultural "issue" in a first world country like America. I can't believe hn are even disc…

motorized transportation is clearly an advantage, having water squirted up your arse is, at best fetishistic, and at worst just a total waste of time/electricity.

If you can't see the difference then go right ahead and keep discussing this nonsense. Funny how the rest of the animal kingdom seems to have managed. Funny how nobody but the Japanese want these? Ever ask why the same nation that needs soiled panty dispensing vending machines also needs an electric bidet. See it for what it is, a fetish. I'm sure jonathan swift would have loved one.

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

#240

Post by wilfra »

aptimpropriety wrote: post #9

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…

you're doing it wrong.
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