Monday 1 June 2009

Bathrooms in Japan - part 2

I do not want to appear obsessive, but I have to write another post about toilets in Japan - they are just too fascinating and I have just recently discovered more interesting toilet features. First surprise came in a really secluded toilet in a park: As soon as you entered the toilet facility you were greeted by cuckoos and other birdsongs. My guidebook told me the reason for that: Japanese people seem to be embarassed by nasty toilet "noises" and they used to flush the toilet while doing their business in order to drown out the noise. This led to high water consumption and in order to avoid that "nice noises" are played in public toilets!

Second surprise was a campground toilet: When you are doing your big business it all of a sudden disappears with a "clap". The squat toilet had a trap door installed.... But that was not all: The toilet was also equipped with a water pistol. I assumed you use the pistol to clean your private area, but the water pressure is so high that some private parts might be missing after cleaning. So Japanese people are either very tough or they use the pistol to clean the floor after a targeting mishap.

Third surprise came when we actually managed to get one of the fancy toilet control panels to work. When you push all the buttoms in the right order a shower arm comes out of the toilet bowl and gives your bottom a very nice spray with warm water - you can even chose the jet intensity!!!

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