Will Miss #467 - the toilet doors

Some things are inexplicably exciting.

It's the little things in life which tend to matter most to those of us with the comforts of first world living. Our complaints are trivial, but they can detract from quality of life in niggling little ways. I took certain things for granted in Japan and one of those was that nearly every toilet door in public and private places had an indicator letting those outside know that there was an occupant inside. I'm sure they did this because most of the stalls had doors that went all the way down to the floor and people couldn't see feet inside. After returning to the U.S., I've learned to really appreciate the way the doors were designed because I've had multiple experiences going to public restrooms or those in private businesses like restaurants in which people walked up to the door while I was using the facilities and yanked on the door to see if it was locked. That, in and of itself, would not trouble me, but people don't pull once, find it locked and give up. They tend to aggressively yank on it three or four times before walking away.

I don't know why people in America feel the need to try and yank a locked toilet door open, but I find it discomfiting to be in a vulnerable position and have people act like they are trying to bust in on me. I miss the door design in Japan which allowed people to know a person was in the toilet without ever having to touch the door.

Won't Miss #265 - heated toilet seats in summer

Japanese toilet seats are a level of luxury that my stubborn heart cannot permit my obstinate behind to have. I can't see what is so tragic about wiping your own behind and sitting on a plain old toilet seat, so I've not invested in any of those fancy seats that do all the work for you. I do encounter them in public places quite often though. In fact, they are becoming more and more common in stores, medical facilities, and even offices. At least some of the public toilets in Shibuya station are these fancy types and station toilets are usually the bottom of the barrel. This is a clear sign that they are becoming ubiquitous. One thing which I absolutely hate about some of the public toilets with these high tech seats is that people turn the heating controls on when it's already quite hot outside. It's as if they think a toilet seat in an 85 degree (29 degrees C.) room is going to freeze their ass.

There is little more uncomfortable than sitting on a hot seat in the summer in Tokyo, and I won't miss it.

Won't Miss #162 - Japanese toilets

In this bathroom diagram from a train station, the solid toilets are Japanese-style and the ones with a hollow center are Western-style.

It probably surprises everyone that it has taken me 323 posts to get to the subject of Japanese toilets. They are often talked about (and reviled) by newcomers to Japan. What many neophytes don't know, but will soon realize, is that the Japanese also dislike squatting over these porcelain troughs in the floor to do their business. If there's a public restroom with a mix of Japanese and Western potties, the Western ones almost always fill up first. No one likes risking peeing on their shoes (or worse) or standing in the mess when those who used it previously missed the mark. The reason they persist despite the obvious preferences is obsessive concerns about cleanliness (having your bum touch the seat another bum has touched) and the fact that the Japanese toilets are easier to clean than the Western-style ones.

I won't miss Japanese-style toilets.

Will Miss #95 - flushing sound machines

In most public toilets, you'll find either a little box on the wall which will play a fake flushing sound when you press the button or controls on the toilet seat's washlet panel that does the same thing. The presence of these mechanisms is a reflection of a certain cultural shyness about making toilet-use-related noises. These devices were created and installed to stop women from wasting water by constantly flushing the toilet to cover up the splash of urine hitting the bowl or water. These devices always strike me as both quaint and ingenuous.

I'll miss seeing these devices in public toilets and thinking about the sort of shyness they represent.

Won't Miss #90 - Japanese water closet

While I love the fact that our toilet is in a separate room from our bath (and I love the bath, as I said in the previous post), I hate the little water closet that the toilet is in. It's extremely small. In fact, it's smaller than a standard coat closet back home. It's about the width of two toilets and there's no window so it's airless. There is a fan, but it doesn't really help much for airing the room out. Cleaning it, especially behind it, is extremely difficult because it's so cramped. In the summer, it's also stiflingly hot. There's also no sink and you have to wash your hands using the water pipe that fills up the tank. In the winter, the water is freezing cold.

I won't miss this tiny, cramped water closet.