The Infamous Japanese Toilet

In light of the title of my blog, I should probably wax poetic for a bit about the joy of Japanese toilets. Might sound odd, but hopefully you'll be convinced of their grandeur and just plain awesomeness by the time I finish. If nothing else, you should at least feel confident that you don't have to cross your legs and hold out until your return flight home, should you venture to the Land of the Rising Sun (which reminds me: the sun rises at something like 04:30 in Tokyo).

Before traveling to Japan, I spent quite a bit of time reading about different things in an attempt to minimize any potential culture shock that might detract from my holiday. So of course I came across all kinds of information about public restrooms, with the usual, "OMG! They just have these holes in the ground and you have to SQUAT over them!" Well, that didn't scare me much. I grew up in the country and squatting behind a tree with little more than a handful of leaves that you prayed wouldn't turn out to be poison ivy was pretty much par for the course if you were out wandering the countryside, as children are wont to do. Yes, you will encounter "squat" toilets in Japan (and many other countries, for that matter). Here's a photo of one:


Nothing scary about it. You just pull down your pants or lift your skirt, whichever applies to your fashion choice of the day, and squat down. Face the front (the hood part under the flushy thingy) and there you go. Umm, and don't fall backwards. :) It's pretty easy. I don't know what the men's rooms are like, but the women frequently have some type of device that makes noise while you go so you don't have to be embarrassed by any tinkly sounds you might make. In the picture above, the white box on the wall is such a device. If I recall correctly, it was motion sensitive. Just wave your hand in front of it and your ninja cloaking sounds will begin. Usually it's the sound of running water, flushing, or sometimes even a bit of pleasant music. Reason #1 that I like Japanese toilets. I became particularly fond of the squat-type because they are so much more hygienic. You don't sit where gazillions of people have sat before.

This toilet was in a public restroom in Akihabara. It was older, but clean. No fancy doodads on this one; you just push the button on the wall to flush when you're done.


This was probably the nicest public restroom we visited, with the Hakodate Museum of Art's restroom coming a close second. See the bar affixed to the side of the commode? It has several buttons on it. One plays the lovely "I'm not peeing" sound, another activates the bidet (you can choose between front and rear wash) and another is for the heated seat. I tell you, heated toilet seats are the greatest invention in the history of mankind. Forget sliced bread, space travel, pennicilin. Heated toilet seats will one day save us all.

Laugh if you will. I took several photos in this restroom :) This is the sink. (It looks a little like it's on the floor, but it isn't. The bowl rests on top of a counter. Just a weird angle for the picture.) Now, one thing you should do is to carry a handkerchief or small towel in your bag or pocket since some public restrooms will not have a means for you to dry your hands. But many will have hand dryers. The following picture is the dryer from this restroom:

Just stick your hands in the opening and the air will dry you up in no time! I didn't get a photo of one, but some dryers are designed so that you stick your hands down into them, kind of like reaching down into a container. Does that make sense? Anyway, as your hands dry, you lift them up slowly and the air blows downward, so as you pull out your hands, the remaining water is blown down into the receptacle. That type of dryer is very effective.

This is the restroom at McDonald's in Harajuku, the one that you can see the sign for in the photo from this post. It was the cleanest McDonald's restroom I've ever been in, despite being a very busy location. It has the usual buttons on the side. Ladies, this is for you, so guys, stick your fingers in your ears and hum until I give you the signal. Ready? Okay, now! All right, do you see the girlie containers on the wall? They were really cool because they were basically just a frame and the disposal container was made of thin cardboard. So when you discarded your goodies in there, there weren't any of the slipped bag issues or icky things jumping out at the people emptying them. Very clever and a simple solution to a hygiene nightmare.

Okay, guys, you can rejoin us now. :)

A few public restrooms had these neat dispensers. Toilet cleaning wipes! Not so you can aid with the housekeeping, but sanitizing wipes so you can have a misguided sense of security while you sit on the seat. Heh heh. Actually, if you've ever used one of those horrible disposable seat covers, or waited while your mom lined the seat with strips of toilet paper, you'll probably appreciate the convenience of these wipes! Pretty spiffy.

The last bit I have for you about public toilets is the occasional non-use of them. If you have read or heard that older men sometimes make use of trees, alleyways or other non-cloaking devices, it is true. No one pays them much mind. We saw one gentleman utilizing a small tree, the only nature available for his response to her call, I suppose. I would have snapped a quick pic, but I wouldn't really want someone to do that to me, so I did what everyone else did- I kept walking.

And that concludes my mind-numbingly boring treatise on toilets in Japan. Just in time to visit my non-heated, music-less washroom at home :)