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Kawaya toilet sign

Amazing Japanese Toilets

Your derriere will sure know pampering with the elaborate toilets found in Japan. The bidet toilet installed in at least 72% of Japanese households is the current state of the art Western-style toilet. Bidets are often called washlets (a brand name of Toto Ltd.), and common features include bidet and anus washing, seat warming, and deodorizing. Japanese toilets are amazingly more advanced than toilets in other countries.

Squat toilet

Squat toilet.

The traditional Japanese-style toilet (washiki) is a squat toilet. It is common all over Asia and differs a great deal from a Western toilet in construction and use. A squat toilet is a type of toilet used in a squat position rather than sitting. It resembles a miniature urinal that is set horizontally into the floor. Most are made of porcelain and in some instances, stainless steel. Using squat toilets are believed to have several health benefits including aiding in the prevention of colorectal cancer.

Western-type standard flush toilets (yōshiki) became common in Japan after World War II. Western-style and washlet toilets are becoming more and more common in Japan nowadays though some older establishments such as temples, schools, and train stations are still equipped with squat toilets. They usually have stickers illustrating how to use the facilities. Cleanliness is important in Japanese culture. Some public toilets even provide toilet slippers in front of the toilet door for people to use.

Japanese automated toilet

Recently, more advanced features include breakthrough medical advances such as measuring blood sugar based on urine, pulse, body fat content, and blood pressure of the user. The results can be sent automatically to a doctor through a built-in internet-capable cellular telephone. More types of measurements are currently being researched. Toilets have surely come a long way compared to the older, more primitive ones. Imagine the possibilities years from now.

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