Toilets in Japan
- Published 2010.7.13
Where you can find
-Free public toilets are usually available all over Japan, and can be found in department stores, convenience stores, and in train stations.
Free or Pay?
-Although public toilets are usually free, toilets at tourist site such as Mt. Fuji may be a pay toilet.
Types of toilet
-You can divide toilets in Japan into 2 types, western style (regular flush toilet) and squat style. Even though most of toilets in Japan are western style, there are still some squat style toilets in rural areas.
Helpful Japanese Characters
-Almost of all toilets have two choices for flush, Big(大) and Small(小) to optimize water usage. Also, many new model toilets are controlled by wireless buttons set aside. And there may have only Japanese characters. Here are some examples to avoid surprise attacks.
- 大-Big
- 小-Small
- 流す-Flush
- おしり-Washlet
- ビデ-Bidet
- 止-Stop
- 乾燥-Dry
- 呼出-Emergency Button
State of the art
-Japanese toilet represented as TOTO or INAX, are full of high tech aspects such as an automotive seat cover lift and Washlets (water jet cleanses anus). If you have enough time to stay in Japan, it is highly recommended to go see world’s most advanced toilets.
Hand wash
-Many public toilets do not have paper towels for drying hands to reduce the wastes. Most of people carry a handkerchief with them for such occasion.
