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Japanese Toilets: The Future Called 30 Years Ago

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Re: Japanese Toilets: The Future Called 30 Years Ago

#71

Post by enscr »

veidr wrote: post #2

This 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…

If you remove your shoes outside and walk barefoot, you're just sharing the sweat, dirt & germs of your foot with everyone else at home & guests. You'll probably take that to bed with you and sometimes sleep on it. If you must leave your shoes outside, wear an 'inside-only' slippers.

Re: Japanese Toilets: The Future Called 30 Years Ago

#72

Post by veidr »

ekianjo wrote: post #28
enko wrote: post #3

After 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.

A specific data point: the (pretty good) Japanese toilet I have retails for about $2,600.00 US.

http://item.rakuten.co.jp/sumailab/ces9896px/?scid=af_pc_etc...

Re: Japanese Toilets: The Future Called 30 Years Ago

#73

Post by enscr »

rikacomet wrote: post #30

One thing I haven't really understood is why exactly is a Indian toilet seat seen as inferior to the English toilet seat. - True that the English seat occupies less space, but its adoption has not always been based on space savings. - True that sitting appears more gentleman like, rather than sitting half subtended in air, but hey who is watching? - True that elderly find the english version easier to use because of…

- Plus squatting is a better posture for properly emptying yourself.

Although sitting for longer than 5 minutes is painful and gets worse with age.

Re: Japanese Toilets: The Future Called 30 Years Ago

#74

Post by enscr »

rikacomet wrote: post #34
veidr wrote: post #2

This 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…

In India, you buy separate rubber slippers/American beach slippers (2$) for the washroom, and a separate one for the house. We don't really stress our feet with closed shoes inside the house. No one's watching you anyway. Only winters, is the in-house rubber slippers (not the washroom ones) are changed with warm slippers.

I've yet to visit a house in India where people have separate slippers for washroom & house. Strange.

Re: Japanese Toilets: The Future Called 30 Years Ago

#75

Post by afterburner »

veidr wrote: post #2

This 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?

Re: Japanese Toilets: The Future Called 30 Years Ago

#77

Post by Pyrodogg »

craigching wrote: post #23
veidr wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, the overwhelming majority of Americans in the USA do wear shoes in the house. I myself did it too, until age 19 (when I moved to Japan). http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Consumer/story?id=5177409 http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/18ekqf/as_a_canad... http://www.quora.com/Do-real-Americans-wear-shoes-indoors-as... https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101011193926A...

That is amazing to me. In Minneapolis, everyone requires you to remove shoes before entering the house proper. Maybe it's the snow ... of which we are currently in the process of getting about 12" tonight :-/

Ditto. Even though I'm renting I have two runners so that I can absolutely cover the floor from the door to the coat closet. The boots (and shoes) don't leave the rug.

One of my friends has such high carpet and a close to the floor door that they can't have a rug immediately inside their unit. They contrived a mini parkour course to safely enter. You'd have to hop from the common hallway to a rug 2ft in and then to another one 2ft further, all in the name of etiquette and not wearing shoes "inside".

Re: Japanese Toilets: The Future Called 30 Years Ago

#79

Post by rahimnathwani »

[deleted] wrote: post #76

[deleted]

The water is sprayed from a wand. The wand automatically retracts into itself when not in use. When retracting and/or expanding, it washes itself. You never touch the want, and it's not expanded when you're doing your business, only afterwards when you turn on the spray.

Re: Japanese Toilets: The Future Called 30 Years Ago

#80

Post by bch »

slyall wrote: post #40
veidr wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, the overwhelming majority of Americans in the USA do wear shoes in the house. I myself did it too, until age 19 (when I moved to Japan). http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Consumer/story?id=5177409 http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/18ekqf/as_a_canad... http://www.quora.com/Do-real-Americans-wear-shoes-indoors-as... https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101011193926A...

It is actually a really strange thing. There seems to be pockets of people in various countries that either wear shoes inside or not but can't imagine doing the opposite and assumes everybody in their city/state/country is like them. Interesting point: You also never see people on TV shows and movies taking their shoes off when they go to a house but I imagine this might be mainly due to the show not wanting to break…

Immediately thought of Mr Rogers[0][1].

[0] http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mister_Rogers%27_Neighborhood...

[1] http://photomatt7.wordpress.com/2011/10/07/mr-rogers-was-a-g...

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