Some fifty years ago, Japan lay in ruins after the war. However, the wise domestic politics and hard work of its citizens performed a miracle: the country literally rose from the ashes and quickly became one of the most economically developed in the world. The specialization of Japan has become technologies that have been introduced in all spheres of life, even the most intimate ones. So, how are Japanese toilets arranged? Let this topic not bother anyone, it is quite interesting and very important.
Traditional Japanese dressing room
As you know, the East is a delicate matter. And this applies not only to worldview and mentality, but also to many adaptations to which a Westerner has a completely different view. For example, you can take hygiene habits, for example, a toilet device. This is now with the phrase "Japanese toilet", we represent something high-tech, but recently, the situation was completely different.
The traditional Japanese toilet is just a hole in the floor, above which you need to squat down to relieve the need. In this room or in front of it there are always special slippers used to maintain cleanliness. They can still be seen now if you go to the Japanese public toilet, but in houses, usually everything is completely different.
So, how did this side of life develop in the Land of the Rising Sun throughout its long history? It is very interesting to follow what happened before and how everything turned out as it is now.
The evolution of the Japanese toilet
Before the local population began to lead a mostly sedentary lifestyle, people used ordinary garbage pits as a latrine, which also dumped corpses, food debris, etc. According to the first mention of toilets in cities, they were arranged in a rectangular recesses through which water flowed, carrying away all sewage into canals that flowed into rivers. The second type was the so-called kawai, which were located on special bridges. Everything was made even simpler there: just holes in the floor above the river. Finally, this type of toilets disappeared only in the middle of the 20th century, and before that they were preserved only in parts of the country remote from cities. Later in the rich houses there was another Japanese toilet, which was mobile. It was a wooden box with an adsorbent placed inside - ash or coal. Servants moved him around the house to those who needed him, and helped to relieve him. Already in the XIII century there was a separate toilet room with appliances that are now considered traditional. Finally, the next step was to copy the European type of toilet, which the Japanese improved, while combining it with a bidet. Now such a toilet can be found in 92% of homes throughout the Land of the Rising Sun.
Also curious is toilet paper. Outside cities, leaves or algae were commonly used for hygiene purposes. More affluent people could afford to use a device called the Mokkan. The fact is that city officials used wooden signs for different purposes. When what was written on them was no longer needed, the top layer was scraped off so that it was possible to make notes again. After several such treatments, the tablets were completely thinned, and then they were used for hygiene and called "mokkan". When paper production became cheaper, old habits were a thing of the past. Today, this type of product involves a huge variety. Toilet paper comes in several layers, with drawings, perfumed, completely soluble in water, etc.
How is everything arranged?
The toilet itself, as a rule, is completely ordinary, the focus is only in the toilet, connected to the water supply and the mains. It is he who provides all the comfort that a toilet room offers. The need to improve the European toilet is well explained by Inax, just engaged in the design and manufacture of high-tech covers. According to representatives of this company, the toilet is the only place in a Japanese house where a person can be alone with himself. And there he needs to provide maximum comfort. As a result, instead of a drain lever understandable to anyone, we have a panel with buttons, next to which the labels are not always duplicated in English, and pictograms do not always help out. Clicking them at random is not worth it, it may not end very well. It is best to pre-study the instructions or at least familiarize yourself with the basic functions that a modern toilet has. Japanese learning is completely useless.
Varieties
A high-tech Japanese toilet can still be divided into several types according to different criteria. Firstly, now there are models that can be controlled by buttons, from the remote control and even from a special application on the smartphone. Secondly, in order to economize on resources, the toilet can be combined with a sink, so that the water that people wash their hands after sending their natural needs will also serve to drain sewage.
Also, of course, the number of functions varies. It can only be a hygienic shower, or many of the most varied features at once, such as forced cleansing after each use, illumination at night, and so on. Cost directly depends on this.
Main functions
The first thing that impresses any European is a bidet. The Japanese, living in small apartments, obviously, do not want to spend space on several hygienic devices, and therefore decided to combine all the necessary in one. That is why the Japanese toilet is quite capable of coping with the function of the bidet. In this case, you can set the temperature, direction and intensity of the jet. So, the Japanese women's toilet is much milder. A special hairdryer is also provided.
The second necessary function was the seat heating. The fact is that heating a home is a serious expense item for an ordinary Japanese. They prefer to save on this, although in the cold season it sometimes causes serious inconvenience. Nevertheless, the toilet should be warm, so heating the seat is so important.
Opening and closing the lid - automatically or by command - is also a fairly popular function, you do not have to do it by hand, which helps to maintain cleanliness. Well, surely, in Japanese families, spouses rarely quarrel over unapproved or undescended caps.
Another feature that is especially pronounced among young girls is extreme shyness. Smells and sounds inherent in the process of coping, confuse, although they are natural. That is why often in the process of using the toilet room, you can turn on the music or the sounds of the murmur of water, as well as forced ventilation at the source of the unpleasant odor, that is, in the toilet itself.
Additionally
More advanced and expensive models suggest a number of functions. Those controlled by smartphones can keep statistics on visits. Also, taking into account the needs of an aging population, modern toilets can collect information about the properties of urine and feces and send them to the nearest medical center for analysis.
There are also presence and landing sensors built into the lid. If necessary, they can signal that the person is in the toilet for too much time.
Control
This part scares any European who first encountered a high-tech toilet. But if we talk about the basic set of functions, managing a modern Japanese toilet is not so difficult.
The most noticeable button is usually “stop”. A small square is drawn on it, so it's easy to recognize.
The functions of washing and a bidet, as a rule, are depicted in the form of water jets aimed at a sketchy man and woman. Buttons that control the temperature and intensity of the jet can be located nearby.
Another key that is most often present on the control panel is accompanied by a pattern in the form of notes. As you might guess, when you press it, music or other sounds will turn on.
So, managing basic functions is not so difficult. When it comes to special remotes, displays or applications for smartphones, everything may not be so simple, but, fortunately, the Japanese understand the realities of the modern world, so the inscriptions are often duplicated in English.
Cost
It is believed that the luxury of the Japanese toilet is not available to Europeans because of the high cost. However, this is not quite true. Simple covers with a basic set of functions can be purchased for 20-30 thousand rubles. Of course, it is difficult to call a budget solution, but you don’t need to work on such a toilet all your life. The upper price threshold of 300-500 thousand for an ultra-modern cyberunitas with the maximum range of functions, a self-cleaning surface and an antibacterial coating will allow only very wealthy connoisseurs of comfort.
About useful
Absolutely all toilets in Japan are free. Local culture suggests that asking for money for an opportunity to cope is like taking a fee for air. So the Japanese toilet can be found in cities at almost every step and, if necessary, use it without having a penny.
There is another important feature that is worth remembering when planning to visit Japan. We are talking about special slippers that must be worn before entering the toilet room. In no case should you remain in the same shoes that are used to move around the rest of the apartment. As a rule, such slippers are located directly in front of the toilet and signed accordingly. Of course, returning, you must not forget to change the shoes again.