The Toilets of Japan
This blog was first posted in April 2019 in the aftermath of a journey to Japan. It remains relevant today, as I found in a recent return to this delightful country. The following is edited and updated, but most of the images are from the 2019 trip.
When arriving in Japan as a budget traveler in 1981, I made a basic and unexpected discovery: toilets were almost universally the Asian “squatter” variety. Using what is basically a hole in the ground is a sensible approach to this universal task. Biologically (as long as one has knees that bend that well), it is the best anatomical position for taking care of one’s daily “business.”
On two recent trips in 2018 and 2024, I found that the squatters had largely been replaced with the sit-down design more familiar to Western butts. Some public restrooms provide both styles. Whether it is an effort to please everyone or a proud nod to the past, the gesture made me smile. Sometimes, I even revisited my 1980s experience by using the squatter. The ol’ knees can still do it!
Japanese toilets nowadays, however, transcend the mundane nature of Western toilets by offering a somewhat bewildering array of techno-options. From what I could discern from the picture icons, there are various bottom-washing options, including the strength, direction, and warmth of the water stream. My inability to read Japanese or fully understand picture icons led to considerable toilet-stall experimentation (one that didn’t always go so well). Sometimes, the result was more like a spray shower—a cold one! I was never brave enough to try the sound feature. What (exactly) would those sounds be, I wondered.
Etiquette and politeness in Japan remains a delightful cultural experience. Toilet manners start with what to wear on your feet. Street shoes never make it past the front entryway, of course, but even within the household or inn one must properly exchange the house slippers for bathroom slippers. Color coding often makes it easy to identify which is the women’s or men’s room. Handwashing is another very important social rule, and with space always at a premium in Japan, I loved the way handwashing sinks are often incorporated on the lids of toilet reservoir tanks.
Two impressive notes about Japanese public restrooms: they are seemingly everywhere, and they are inevitably very clean! Toilet stalls, handwashing areas, mirrors, even the floors: so very spotless, almost all the time! (It led me and another member of our group to cringe at what Japanese tourists to the United States might typically experience...) Another sweet touch are the public restrooms with pint-sized toilet stalls with little-butt toilets for children (disregard the word “infant” in the English translation).
Over time, I gained proficiency and appreciation for the various toilet inventions that this tech-happy nation has invented. For example, I greatly appreciate that the seat can be heated—a delightful feature that I enjoyed at all hours of the day (and night). The environmentalist in me also appreciated that the auto-flush feature on most toilets seems far better-calibrated in Japan than elsewhere in the world. Toilets didn’t waste water by flushing multiple times as I moved around tucking in my shirt or gathering up my belongings.
I’ve managed my biological needs in lots of places around the world (often where proper restrooms aren’t available, but that’s an entirely separate story...). Only in Japan is the attention to this necessary function so sweetly and thoughtfully addressed. Go, Japan!
