I don't really know where to start since I have been here now for 3 months - but something caught me as funny today in our ritual of "going potty" with my 3 year-old son Landon, so I guess I will start there...The Japanese Bathroom.
The bathroom situations in Japan are VERY different - in a good way. As Americans we see the bathroom as a sacred place. Men - see it as a place to get clean and a place to read the paper, in private. Women - see it as a place for solitude, beauty, privacy and a place we would rather not share with men.
In Japan - the bathroom is not as sacred - but more focused upon the toilet, or washlet as most are called.
A few facts about a Japanese washlet:
They are heated.
Even in the public restrooms - they are heated. Until you have had this in your life on a regular basis - you have no idea what you are missing! At first it is a little strange - but you get used to it mighty quick. I found this out in the middle of a very cold March night, as my son had turned off the heat button on our toilet. You would have thought someone had given me an electric volt with a stun gun. (I know - insert a hearty laugh and visual here!)
It sounds crazy - but the heated seat is a glorious thing!
They have a CONTROL on the side of every toilet.
I kid you not...a control panel. Almost liken to a TV remote or the remote to a Hover'Round.
The HOME RESTROOM control panel: usually consists of 3 or 4 buttons. The 'heat' control dial. The 'front' wash. The 'back' wash. The 'pressure' of the wash! I have no doubts that you can figure out what all these are. Mind you - we had to try them out and let me tell you...you MUST make sure that no one has tampered with the 'pressure' button, otherwise it makes for a rude awakening!
The PUBLIC RESTROOM control panel: This my friends has more buttons than should be allowable by law. It has all the buttons I stated above and a few more thrown in for good public bathroom etiquette. (the Japanese DO NOT, under any circumstances, want you to know that they are going to the bathroom!!)
The extra buttons include: something equivalent to the sound of a cough, a 'flushing sound', and I swear in one of the restrooms they even had a 'radio sound' button! Why these buttons exist is beyond me because the walls and doors go from ceiling to floor - in EVERY bathroom.
The Japanese do not want you to know they go to the bathroom!
Since I have only been here 3 months, I know I have not experienced all the bathrooms that they have to offer - but overall, the bathrooms are very clean, very private and put American public bathrooms to shame.
However, there is another - scarier type public bathroom out there...the trough. And let me tell you...IT IS SCARY AS HELL!
It is like the troughs in a regular men's bathroom, only laid flat on the floor, and it is for women.
This my friends is fodder for a whole other blog!
3 comments:
Well, this is going to be awesome. More please!
I hear the sarcasm pouring out DG! xxoo
Thanks for the updates... I must admit I am sitting at work laughing! Sounds interesting! You are a trooper that is for sure! I am not sure I would do so well! We miss you around here! ;-) Keep us updated!
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