Japanese baths are great, too - you can wash your body before getting into the tub, so you're not stewing in your own filth.
In Iceland you are required to wash before entering a swimming pool. you're likely to be stopped by an employee if you don't
Japanese Toilets: The Future Called 30 Years Ago
131–140 of 172 posts
Re: Japanese Toilets: The Future Called 30 Years Ago
#132After using the toilet, do you wash your hands, or just wipe them? You've just demonstrated why washing toilets are superior. I cannot understand our misplaced, hollow pride in not adopting something which simply works better. I've even heard some especially crazy people try to say the japanese toilets are "perverted" - the hold tradition has on some people is just insane. Japanese toilets are simply better. For some…
> Japanese toilets are simply better. For some bizarre reason we've resisted adopting them here. It boggles the mind. They are not cheap in Japan, by the way. If you buy a new apartment they are included by default(these companies work like Mafia to secure contracts with new apartment complex builders), but new ones you buy directly from TOTO are like... "what?" when you see their prices.
Or you can just buy direct from Amazon for $400-1000:
http://www.amazon.com/Toto-SW574-01-Washlet-Seat-Elongated/d...
Re: Japanese Toilets: The Future Called 30 Years Ago
#133This is one of those things that long-time expats that live in Japan often take back with them when they leave. Another is the practice of removing your (utterly filthy, inevitably) outdoor shoes when you enter the house. I read Shogun as a kid (great book, for a little kid) and going back home to the USA and using the toilet there always reminds me of the scenes where the European sailors that shipwrecked in Japan s…
Canadians don't wear their shoes indoors either. Because of tracking melting snow indoors (so the habit sticks any other time), or the less comfortable shoes due to such weather, and probably because homes in colder climates are heated a little better, so shoes get uncomfortably hot. But it just makes sense, even in dry summer weather. Or is it blasting AC that makes shoes necessary?
This was one of the things that took me by surprise in Canada. At home I would do it if someone asked me but in Canada even the cable guy and the construction guy removed their shoes as soon as they entered without being asked. Surprising considering they were also going in and out to their van and had to put the shoes on/off repeatedly.
Re: Japanese Toilets: The Future Called 30 Years Ago
#134By the way "bidet" is a french word in the first place and it has nothing to do with washing your arse :) Bidets are small bathtubs-shaped vessels where you actually wash your feet. The reason they existed is because in the past people didn't wash their whole body every single day, and instead they cleaned at least the most dirty / odorant parts of their bodies this way, more often.
Actually, the "bidet" is an invention from the early 1700s that was specifically designed to wash intimate parts. The etymology of the word indicates that the bidet is something one rides, by analogy with a small horse.
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=bidet http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidet_(meuble)
Re: Japanese Toilets: The Future Called 30 Years Ago
#135Earlier quoted context omitted.
And another thing that gets overlooked is that the toilet is always in a separate room from the rest of the bathroom (washbasin and tub). It seems weird at first that you have to go down the hall into a phonebooth-sized compartment to do your business. But then you go back to visit family in America and can't stop noticing that you poop 3 feet away from where you brush your teeth...
I actually have that in my apartment in SF. It may be because it's a three bedroom place with only one bath though. It's nice because someone can use the toilet while the shower is in use, but then you have to walk to the kitchen to wash your hands....wish someone had the foresight to add the faucet-top toilet ;)
why not add it yourself?
Re: Japanese Toilets: The Future Called 30 Years Ago
#136Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, that drawback can be seen as a JUST motivation for not taking your time in the toilet always. Even 5 minutes saved one time, is equal to 10-15 minutes everyday. 70-100 minutes a week and around 60-90 hours a year to put that into perspective.
I find my time on the toilet quite productive, it's usually when I have Eureka moments.
I figured so, occasionally it is the same for me. But I didn't say everyone should be saving time.
Re: Japanese Toilets: The Future Called 30 Years Ago
#137Re: Japanese Toilets: The Future Called 30 Years Ago
#138After using the toilet, do you wash your hands, or just wipe them? You've just demonstrated why washing toilets are superior. I cannot understand our misplaced, hollow pride in not adopting something which simply works better. I've even heard some especially crazy people try to say the japanese toilets are "perverted" - the hold tradition has on some people is just insane. Japanese toilets are simply better. For some…
The reason you wash your hands is so that you don't spread pathogens to yourself and others. As far as I can tell, that's not the primary reason you wipe your behind.
I think if I got mud on, say, my inner thigh, I'd still want to clean it off. With water.
Re: Japanese Toilets: The Future Called 30 Years Ago
#139After using the toilet, do you wash your hands, or just wipe them? You've just demonstrated why washing toilets are superior. I cannot understand our misplaced, hollow pride in not adopting something which simply works better. I've even heard some especially crazy people try to say the japanese toilets are "perverted" - the hold tradition has on some people is just insane. Japanese toilets are simply better. For some…
I gave in and ordered a bidet a year ago. Not wanting to commit to some of the expensive options, I opted for the $25 Astor Bidet: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003TPGPUW/ Installation involved adding a T-adapter to my sink's cold water line. The whole setup takes about 5-10 minutes if you know what you're doing, or about 30 if you don't. Even if you know nothing about plumbing, you can install this thing with so…
This kind of bidet (not talking about the squat toilets) is pretty common in Turkey aswell. It definitely gets the job done. Using paper to dry up only is causing far less skin irritation too.
Re: Japanese Toilets: The Future Called 30 Years Ago
#140Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm curious: Did you first try using toilet paper in another country/region, or it something that has recently been introduced to where you grew up?
I still don't use toilet paper. I used one when I had access to it(in a hotel). I knew toilet paper existed as once when I saw it in movies or read about it.
Can I inquire as to where you grew up? I've genuinely never heard of anyone using just their hand, but I suppose it makes sense for poorer parts of the world. (no offense intended whatsoever)