Toilets in Japan are sometimes designed more elaborately than toilets commonly seen in other developed nations. European toilets occasionally have a separate bidet whilst Japan combines an electronic bidet with the toilet. The current state of the art for Western-style toilets in Japan is the bidet toilet, which as of March 2016 is installed in 81% of Japanese households. In Japan, these bidets are commonly called washlets, a brand name of Toto Ltd., and they may include many advanced features rarely seen outside of Asia. The basic feature set commonly found on washlets consists of anal hygiene, bidet washing, seat warming, and deodorization.
Terminology The word toire (トイレ) is an abbreviated form of the English language word "toilet", and is used both for the toilet itself and for the room where it is located. A common euphemism is otearai (お手洗い; lit. "hand-washing"). This is similar to the usage in US English of "washroom", which literally means a room where something is washed, and "toilet", which literally refers to the act of self-cleaning. It is also common to see another loan translation, keshōshitsu (化粧室; lit. "powder room"), on signs in department stores and supermarkets, as well as accompanying the public toilet pictogram. The plain word for toilet is benjo (便所; "place of convenience" or "place of excrement"), from the word ben (便) meaning "convenience" or "excrement", and this word is fairly common. It is often used in elementary schools, public swimming baths, and other such public places, and is not especially impolite, although some may prefer to use a more refined word. In many children's games, a child who is tagged "out" is sent to a special place, such as the middle of a circle, called the benjo. Japanese has many other words for places reserved for excretory functions, including kawaya (厠) and habakari (憚り), but most are rare or archaic. The toilet itself—that is, the bowl or in-floor receptacle, the water tank, et cetera—is called benki (便器). The toilet seat is benza (便座). A potty, either for small children or for the elderly or infirm, is called omaru (sometimes written 御虎子). The Japan Toilet Association celebrates an unofficial Toilet Day on November 10, because in Japan the numbers 11/10 (for the month and the day) can be read as ii-to(ire), which also means "Good Toilet".
Types of toilets There are two styles of toilets commonly found in Japan; the oldest type is a simple squat toilet, which is still common in public conveniences. After World War II, modern Western-type flush toilets and urinals became common.
Squat toilet
The traditional Japanese-style (和式, washiki) toilet is the squat toilet. A squat toilet differs from a sitting toilet in both construction and method of employment. A squat toilet essentially looks like a miniature urinal set horizontally into the floor. Most squat toilets in Japan are made of porcelain, although in some cases (as on trains) stainless steel is used instead. The user squats over the toilet, facing the hemispherical hood, i.e., the wall in the back of the toilet in the picture seen on the right. A shallow trough collects the waste, instead of a large water-filled bowl as in a Western toilet. All other fixtures, such as the water tank, piping, and flushing mechanism, may be identical to those of a Western toilet. Flushing causes water to push the waste matter from the trough into a collecting reservoir which is then emptied, with the waste carried off into the sewer system. The flush is often operated in the same manner as a Western toilet, though some have pull handles or pedals instead. Many Japanese toilets have two kinds of flush: "small" (小) and "large" (大). The difference is in the amount of water used. The former is for urine (in Japanese, literally "small excretion") and the latter for feces ("large excretion"). Often, the lever is pushed to the "small" setting to provide a continuous masking noise for privacy, as discussed below.
Hybrid squat/sitting toilet A combination squat/sitting toilet also exists, where a seat can be flipped down over a squat toilet, and the toilet can be used essentially the same way as the Western style. This hybrid seems to be common only in rural areas for the benefit of resident foreigners. Adapters that sit on top of the Japanese toilet to convert it to a functional sit-down toilet are much more common. There are also permanently installed extensions available to convert a squat toilet into a sitting-style washlet.
"Western-style"
A flush toilet which has a pedestal for sitting is known in Japan as a Western-style (洋式, yōshiki) toilet, more commonly known as the sitting toilet. Western-style toilets, including high tech toilets, are now more common in Japanese homes than the traditional squat toilets, though some older apartments retain stickers on the toilet or in its room illustrating the proper way to use it for urination and defecation. Many public toilets at schools, temples, and train stations are still equipped with only squat toilets. In their own homes, however, Japanese people prefer being able to sit, especially older or physically disabled individuals for whom prolonged squatting is physically demanding or uncomfortable. Like Japanese toilets, many Western toilets have two kinds of flush: "small" (小) and "large" (大). The difference is in the amount of water used.
Japanese bidets (washlet)
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