Wade in the Water...Japanese style

[geoviki]

Trying to keep up my posting momentum here. Seeing that today I had a plumber tracking down and fixing a leak in one of our bathroom pipes, I thought I'd go with the day's theme.



If it's one thing the Japanese excel at, it's creating innovative consumer products. For example, here's the toilet and shower area of our small hotel room in Tokyo:


Toyoko Inn bathroom

I'm standing in the doorway, so you're seeing the entire thing. Every one of our bathrooms was basically a complete plastic module that was just popped into the room, simple to replace when it wears out. Believe me, I wish I had one of these babies today after the plumber cut holes all over my nicely wallpapered walls looking for the leak. See how the shower head is part of the sink faucet (a bit of hose is to the right of the basin)? Water switches between the two with a diverter knob. Clever.

Check out the toilet, a thing of beauty and a joy forever. For one thing, that seat is gently warmed at all times. No more cold asses for me, no sirree! Also, when one sits down, the water starts running (in other places, there was a recorded sound of running water) because Japanese women find the sounds of peeing too embarrassing to endure. Finally, there's a built-in bidet that can be aimed at different girl-parts and the pressure adjusted. Wow! I was impressed, but when I started finding these bad boys in public places like subway stations, all in proper working order, I was flabbergasted. Yay for creature comforts!


Asunaro Ryokan toilet

Here's another one from a Japanese-style hotel (a ryokan). This one's got a cool faucet on top of the tank, so after you flush, you can rinse your hands from the clean water filling the tank through a small drain in its little basin. And check out the vinyl slippers, properly labeled "W.C.". You are meant to take off your indoor slippers and put these on for use only in the toilet. Seeing that the entire floor is about 12" x 12", there really wasn't a whole lot of walking room. It's a faux pas to walk out of the toilet with these on, BTW.

What is utterly mysterious in light of this luxury is that what is called a "Japanese toilet" is also widely available – public toilets will have about a 50-50 split between Western and Japanese stalls (happily labeled in English). There were times I had to opt for them and the difference is dramatic (and not in a good way). It made me glad I do lunges in exercise class because there's nothing to hang on to; you just do kind of a balancing squat and hope you don't pee on your shoes or worse. And since everyone's aim is not all that accurate, the smell becomes worse as the day progresses. Why are these things still in existence given the alternative?


Japanese toilet

The public baths and onsens (hot springs) make up for the Japanese toilet, though. All of our ryokans had them, some with more pools and tubs than others. They're gender-separate. You undress in a locker room and leave your stuff in a basket, then sit on one of these little plastic chairs and scrub yourself completely by filling the buckets and using hand-held spray heads. I was the only one in this bath so I could take a few pictures. I steamed up the place pretty well, huh?


Chaya Ryokan public bath

Here's the hot tub. Mmmmm, great way to relax after walking a million miles. Strangely, the night before, this was the men's side, which confused the hell out of me at first. These doors were labeled only with different colored banners (and Japanese text), and at first I thought I'd gone in the wrong one because it clearly had a different lay-out than the day before.


Chaya Ryokan public bath

Comments

[aliciajd]

I lived in Japan from 1958 through 1962 when my dad was stationed there with the air force. At that time those miserable embedded in the floor toilets made up about 95% of what we ran across in our travels around the country. We absolutely loved our tour in Japan, but did not miss their toilets, at all, when we returned stateside.

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

I remember these funky American ones around that time, although they were "standard" height, they didn't have seats and you were meant to hover over them. They sensibly disappeared by the late 60's, so I wonder why these Japanese things persist? The one benefit they have is that you don't actually touch anything.

[mkcs.livejournal.com]

Not having to touch any part of the toilet sounds nice. Squatting every day, every time you go to the toilet sounds really good for you, to me. And I assume doing that from childhood would make it a lot easier.

Finally, I gather squat toilets help prevent haemorrhoids.

[ruric.livejournal.com]

I like the self-contained drop-in drop-out module idea!

[meri-oddities.livejournal.com]

OMG, this was great. I like seeing how other cultures deal with things. It's always so inventive. *g* It sounds like you had a grand time.

Can't wait to see more pictures.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I like to think I'd manage in a squatting toilet for brief trips, but, without getting graphic, if I had to manage a...longer stay in there, I'd never manage. Oy.

[spinfrog.livejournal.com]

While it would be hard to switch over, it's true (as mkcs says) that squatting toilets help prevent all sorts of "back door" woes (think pelvic floor prolapses and things hanging in places they weren't meant to be, apparently it's a lot common than people realize)... But also, for the Japanese answer to the toilet question, read In Praise of Shadows by Junichiro Tanizaki :)

[snottygrrl.livejournal.com]

i worked with a lady born and raised in shanghai and despite having been in NZ for six years, she was surprised to discover that nowhere in NZ (or america) were there trench toilets. all the school children still use them in shanghai (apparently) and she just couldn't wrap her head around the fact that neither my kiwi co-worker nor i had ever used one.

it's all what you're used to i suppose.

i think i'm glad that i don't have an appropriate icon for this comment :P

[amelia-eve.livejournal.com]

Those Japanese squat toilets were a million times better than the European ones, which are more like two raised foot prints in the middle of a shower stall. Try that in pantyhose! I felt really proud of myself for successfuly using the squat toilet on a moving bullet train. At least there was a grab bar in that one for stability.

And next time you come to NY/NJ, let Cordelia and me take you to our ginormous Korean bathhouse. All the groovy hot and cold tubs and steam rooms, plus a wild assortment of dry saunas with all different temperatures and mineral properties.

[pir8fancier.livejournal.com]

Not that I am claustrophobic, but I think I might feel a little closed in upon. Like the walls were about to crush me.

[tipgardner.livejournal.com]

Best of luck with your pipes, Darling.

[lagreyeyes.livejournal.com]

Okay, not only am I tall, but also claustrophobic. Each picture, innovation notwithstanding, made me cringe. And the older toilets reminded me of a few public toilets in some of Italy's smaller towns. A tall wooden pole was provided, which one wedged firmly on the floor and held on to while squatting - not an experience I'm inclined to repeat any time soon. *shudders*