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The Rise of the Japanese Toilet

nytimes.com

231–240 of 406 posts

Re: The Rise of the Japanese Toilet

#231
post #217
post #79

If anyone wants to explore the bidet space without replacing an entire toilet, I can recommend the Neo line of products from https://luxebidet.com/ They sell kits for under $70 USD that attach to existing toilets, using the space between the seat and bowl, and attach to the toilet's water supply with a tee fitting and one-way valve, either at the wall valve, or at the bottom of the tank. Installation should take less…

I suspect the practical reason they are not retrofitted is that few if any toilets in the US have a power outlet next to it.

They're hydraulically powered, not electrically; no outlet required, the same water intake that the jet uses is used for the mechanism as well.

Re: The Rise of the Japanese Toilet

#232

In almost all of SE Asia, especially Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, all of the toilets come with a hand-held sprayer. They also had this in the Doha airport and I'm not sure how common this style is outside of SE Asia but I'm guessing it's common. Japanese style bidets are very common in Korean households as well and I'm sure its easily a billion dollar business. It is nice but the functionality is quite difficult for…

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Re: The Rise of the Japanese Toilet

#233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Completely redo a bathroom? The barrier to entry is replacing the seat with one that connects to the existing waterline. I've got one and it took 10 minutes to install - and 5 of those were just cleaning first.

For the spray nozzle sure. It would only work in particularly hot climates though, so maybe Arizona and Florida in the summer. There is a reason northern Asia goes without or with heated Japanese toilets instead (they also warm the water so you don’t hate yourself).

I use a non-heated bidet in Truckee, California (near lake Tahoe). In the winter the water that comes out is cold, but it's only for a few seconds, so I just grin and bear it.

Re: The Rise of the Japanese Toilet

#234
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ideally you need nearby electrical and ability to get water to the washlet seat. Which is fairly easy/cheap in a bathroom remodel (which is what I did) but not necessarily easy/cheap otherwise. (There are simpler ways you can get part-way there as noted in this thread.)

...why would you need electricity for a seat with water?

There are models that don't require electricity, but the higher end ones (that do) will heat the water before hit hits your butt, and also might have a heated seat as well as other features.

Re: The Rise of the Japanese Toilet

#236
post #221

These are so good. After you've lived in Japan for a while you go back to (pretty much any) Western country and feel like going back to the middle ages. It feels outright barbaric not to have this level of hygiene. I guess it's like going to a place which doesn't use toilet paper?

I have Toto bidets installed at home (in the US)... was visiting Japan for a couple weeks last month and was overjoyed (not exaggerating) to see bidets in pretty much every bathroom, even in low-end bars and restaurants. I think I remember exactly one toilet I used that didn't have a bidet.

Then I come back home and go out and about and am disappointed when even nice restaurants don't have them.

Re: The Rise of the Japanese Toilet

#237
post #7

It's great for your master bathroom. I wouldn't put them in a guest bathroom because over time the wand accumulates poo - might be unsanitary after a while. I clean mine every couple of weeks.

Assuming you clean the guest bathroom after a guest leaves (or at least before a new guest arrives), you can simply add the bidet wand to your list of items to clean, no?

Re: The Rise of the Japanese Toilet

#238

These are neat, but not an option for those in rentals/apartments. Instead, on the advice here, about five years ago I bought a “bum gun” from Home Depot, the fancy stainless steel version for maybe $60 at the time. https://www.homedepot.com/b/Bath-Bidets-Handheld-Bidets/N-5y... These deliver 90% of the benefits for under 10% of the cost, and less maintenance. It’s like a small metal garden hose with gun shaped valve…

> These are neat, but not an option for those in rentals/apartments.

In the last place I rented, I bought and installed a Toto Washelet seat. When I moved out, I removed it and replaced the original seat. Same unit is now in a bathroom in the house I own.

The seat replacements aren't as integrated as the entire-bowl replacements, but they come pretty close.

Re: The Rise of the Japanese Toilet

#239

In almost all of SE Asia, especially Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, all of the toilets come with a hand-held sprayer. They also had this in the Doha airport and I'm not sure how common this style is outside of SE Asia but I'm guessing it's common. Japanese style bidets are very common in Korean households as well and I'm sure its easily a billion dollar business. It is nice but the functionality is quite difficult for…

Off-topic but can we please stop censoring words such as shitting? It disgusts me but at least I understand it on platforms like YouTube which penalize those who don't self-censor but it has no purpose here. I find it worrying how easily people accept this newspeak and spread it of their own free will.

Or use 'pooping' or 'defecating'.

It never ceases to amaze me people do that without any prompting. Why? What is gained? We are meat puppets who occasionally shit, piss, fuck, bleed, and die. Use a thesaurus if you must, but leave the asterisks out of it.

Re: The Rise of the Japanese Toilet

#240

In almost all of SE Asia, especially Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, all of the toilets come with a hand-held sprayer. They also had this in the Doha airport and I'm not sure how common this style is outside of SE Asia but I'm guessing it's common. Japanese style bidets are very common in Korean households as well and I'm sure its easily a billion dollar business. It is nice but the functionality is quite difficult for…

In Thailand anywhere luxury will typically use the Japanese style washlets. I wouldn't be surprised to see that trickle-down to eventually become standard.

Some of the more upmarket shopping malls in Bangkok have Totos.
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