Posted on 04/10/2014 7:16:24 AM PDT by C19fan
I remember about 10 years ago, I was watching a National Geographic show about a hunter-gatherer tribe in Papua New Guinea. The men were running around in loincloths with spears, hunting animals, making offerings to the gods — you know, typical primitive-tribe stuff. But okay, I don't judge... we're all descended from people like that.
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I suspect that the real reason we don't adopt Japanese toilets is the very fact that people are so eager to give reasons not to. We've grown used to the idea that everything good is invented in America. If it wasn't invented here, it must not be worth having, we tell ourselves. It's a toxic combination of "golden age mentality" and national chauvinism — a symptom of "Ming America."
(Excerpt) Read more at theweek.com ...
After the brutally cold Winter that we had, I must admit that I find the idea of a heated toilet seat quite appealing. There are few things more jarring that waking up in the middle of the night to use the facilities and having one’s butt coming into contact with an icy seat. I’ve had to peel myself off the ceiling quite a few times!
Japan is several orders of magnitude more compressed than Europe. Personal space, like that of a crushed commuter on a rush hour Shinkansen subway car in Tokyo, must be found inward. Such commuters can be seen standing in place supported by all the bodies pressed up around them with eyes closed as if they're taking a nap. Interior spaces of homes, offices, restaurants, bars, are all efficiently miniature. And unless one is raised in that compressed reality it is stressful.
Japanese-Americans are no different than any of us whose ancestors came from someplace else. I've got a colleague (San-Sei, third generation J-A) who felt completely alien when she visited Japan, and had the added burden of dealing with the reactions of locals to whom she looked as Japanese as them but reacted almost like Donald Sutherland in the final scene of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" when she opened her mouth.
Sorry, subway is “Chikatetsu”. Shinkansen are the “bullet trains”, which are quite comfortable and a joy to ride.
The last time I spent any real time in Japan was in the late ‘70s. The Japanese toilets were flush with the floor and you had a bar to grab onto to keep you in a stable squatting position.
Does it take care of large solids to eliminate the occasional need for a plunger?
I have two Toto toilets - but not the fancy seat.
Still, by far the best toilets I have ever owned, by a long shot.
Also, those wonderful “soft close” seats fail after a few years of use, with the friction mechanism wearing out.
The Washlet seats are popular among those who would actually use an available bidet. They are a pleasant novelty I’ve tried, but I’ve never even thought about wishing for one.
Squatting To Eliminate Is Healthier
We are hardly the first to feel strongly about this: doctors, naturopaths, and assorted holistic health professionals have pointed out the hazards of the modern toilet for years. There is empirical evidence that suggests that elevating your feet during elimination is healthier.
The modern day toilet is convenient, but has one major fault; it requires us to sit. While sitting to do our business may be considered “civilized”, studies show the natural squat position improves our ability to eliminate. Better elimination may decrease many modern day ailments including bloating, straining, hemorrhoids and constipation.
http://www.squattypotty.com/Articles.asp?ID=256
Yep and now because of EPA standards you can only get a toilet that flushes with a cup and a half of water which has to be flushed 3 times.
I just installed 2 of them and they are a joke. I wish I had the old ones back. If I ever need a new one I am going to buy an antique one, I don't care how much it costs.
I know what you mean. This family’s daughter was a real beauty and I saw an interview of her on TV after she had won a beauty contest.
Seeing an obviously Japanese girl speak with a strong Southern accent was almost unsettling.
The basic model which I described in my post actually has fewer parts and surface area than the traditional American toilet. The Japanese are very good at designing well functioning items with fewer parts.
While not so bad as Japan, we’re not reproducing either. Immigration makes up the gap, so it’s less noticeable.
That’s an Australian soldier. It’s also completely off topic. Start your own thread.
For one things he seems not to know that many of the "Japanese wonders" are in use in the US. Another thing is that he seems never to have been in a ordinary Japanese home. He seems to have done the equivalent of reading the in-flight catalog and decided that every home has such gadgets.
Next big thing should be a toilet that after you are done pooping, you can use it to wash your face. That would be a breakthrough.
I expect them to be the first nation to resort to human cloning for population purposes.
We have chairs around our table in the kitchen, and the dining room. It beats sitting on your haunches.
You must be awfully young -- or have a defective memory.
When the article said, "Japanese toilet", I pictured the only kind I ever saw -- the "benjo" squat over the hole in the floor type:
And -- the one pictured is far fancier than the basic model -- just a hole in the floor...
I’ve read elsewhere that that was an Australian pilot, but object lesson remains the same.
Sure, and what is your point in directing that at me?
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