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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?

#101

Post by DigitalJack »

CanSpice wrote: post #86
DigitalJack wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe those are referred to as "Klingons." I've never had the opportunity to use a bidet, but on top of the lack of a thorough cleaning, aren't you dripping wet after? Even in a half squat after the fact, I would expect this unsanitary water to run down one's legs.

The article states "Even still, many users of bidets use some amount of toilet paper, especially for drying purposes."

Sure, but now you are chasing rivulets of fecal water running down your legs. That is some shit I'd rather not deal with.

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

#102

Post by Symmetry »

ahlatimer wrote: post #73
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?

While discussions of what goes on in the bathroom may make most Americans uncomfortable, it certainly isn't so taboo as to point out a different toilet. Perhaps the Japanese culture is different, such that, while people may have wanted to ask why you have a fringe toilet, social norms kept them from doing so. I'm not Japanese, nor have I spent any time in Japan, so that's purely conjecture, but, knowing what little I…

Anecdotally your conjecture is correct.

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

#103

Post by mturmon »

CanSpice wrote: post #90
crusso wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very informative post. Thanks for getting into some details that were bouncing around in my mind. The article makes it sound as though you don't need toilet paper and that didn't sound quite right unless the jet was pretty significant and included some kind of soap.

The article actually states "...many users of bidets use some amount of toilet paper, especially for drying purposes."

But it's confusing. It also says washlets "render toilet paper obsolete."

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

#104

Post by miahi »

w1ntermute wrote: post #65
eob wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not a reasonable default because every visitor to your house would make a comment requiring you to justify having "fringe" bathroom habits. Edit: Not every, of course. And the number would vary by region of the US. Excuse the universal quantifier :)

> 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.

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

#105

Post by adestefan »

krschultz wrote: post #99
adestefan wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Even those high end show rooms have a limited range of specific manufacturers. Like I said it's mostly fit and finish.

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

#106

Post by paulsutter »

Touch-free and heated are the main advantages of Japanese toilets. The seat raises as you approach, lowers automatically, and the toilet flushes when you stand up. I returned yesterday from a two-month trip to Japan, and now the toilets here seem primitive, unclean, and cold. Why touch a toilet seat or handle with your hand?

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

#108

Post by utopkara »

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…

There is something wrong with your jet/mud/arm analogy, because it doesn't translate the real life results. The size, location, mobility, etc. make a difference.

Also, these toilets come with a warm air dryer as well.

I also saw them for the first time at Google, and then I bought one for home. It saves a ton of waste and you'll be and feel cleaner afterwards.

Granted, it does take a little more time to exit after you are done. But, if people were really in a hurry why would they keep a magazine/book by the toilet?

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

#109

Post by iso-8859-1 »

mberning wrote: post #96

Try using a toilet in Germany. Without being too crass, you deposit your excrement onto a dry shelf, whereupon it may be inspected, or not, and then a rush of water slides it off the shelf to its destination.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toilette#Porzellanstandardbecke...

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

#110

Post by Aloisius »

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.

The wands that spray you are almost always are self-cleaning.
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