Home - Garden
What Makes
A Japanese Toilet Unique
By A.E. FEENSTRA
Famous bidets
Japanese toilets have bidet systems built into the toilet bowl itself, so users can do their business and clean themselves all without needing to stand up.
Some bidets even incorporate a mild soap, so you're not just rinsing off, but thoroughly cleansing. Other models let you control the temperature of the water so it's not too cold.
Additional Features
In the cold, northern region of Japan, heated toilet seats are a necessity — not a luxury — and this attitude has spread to the Japanese toilet fan base.
Other features include a blow-dry system, air deodorizing, music speakers, glow in the dark options, an air-conditioned toilet rim, and built-in massagers.
Automation Proximity
The Toto Neorest, a high-tech toilet found in Japan, has an automatic lid that lifts when its proximity sensor determines you’re standing close to it.
Some Neorests will lift the lid if it senses someone is facing away from the toilet (to sit down), but they’ll lift the lid and seat if someone is facing the toilet (to urinate).
Environmental Impact
Using Japan’s famous bidet systems for bathroom hygiene and cleanliness reduces use of a nonrenewable resource: toilet paper.
For some Japanese toilets, the sink perches atop the toilet tank so the water you use to wash your hands flows into the tank to flush the toilet, which efficiently conserves water.
Cleaning/Maintenance
Japanese toilets automatically rinse the toilet bowl before use, reducing the likelihood
of anything sticking to the
bowl and needing to be
scrubbed off later.
The most advanced Japanese toilets turn on a UV light after the toilet is used, scouring and disinfecting every inch of the bowl with the light's sanitizing rays.