Japanese Toilets Becoming
Recreational Rooms!
Recreational Rooms!
Boyé Lafayette De Mente
First it was toilets with heated seats (which won high praise from Madonna whose bare bottom is well-known to her fans!), then it was toilets that would emit a pleasant noise to mask the flushing sound which embarrassed some ladies.
Next came automated toilet lids (like the doors on the left sides of Japanese taxis), and then there were seats that would check your pulse (and send the results to your doctor!).
Now there are toilets that play a variety of music while you are taking care of business (with the tunes depending on the time of day), and toilets that spray a variety of scents into the air while you are on the seat.
If you have an Inax Corp. commode and a special card you can choose the tune you want. The music starts when you first step in front of the commode and stops when you leave. Models in this musical series cost between $2,000 and $3,100.
It is Toto Ltd.’s New Apricot series that dispenses different aromas (four in all) into the air. Units in this series are priced from $1,000 to $2,000. Smells are apparently cheaper than sounds.
In case you might think that such user-friendly toiletware would have only a limited market. Think again. Over eight-and-a-quarter million new toilets were sold in Japan last year—most of them with more than just a seat to sit on. The upscale toilets are especially popular with seniors.
Japan’s toilets are also becoming a big thing in the U.S. and elsewhere, portending an ongoing evolution of the toilet into a recreational room. What happened to just plain reading while sitting?
Copyright © 2007 by Boyé Lafayette De Mente
_____________________________________
The author’s books on Japan include JAPAN UNMASKED—The Character & Personality of the Japanese, SEX & THE JAPANESE—The Sensual Side of Japan, and ELEMENTS OF JAPANESE DESIGN—Understanding & Using Japan’s Classic Wabi-Sabi-Shibui Concepts. For a full list of his 40-plus books on Japan see his personal website: http://www.phoenixbookspublishers.com/.
_____________________________________
The author’s books on Japan include JAPAN UNMASKED—The Character & Personality of the Japanese, SEX & THE JAPANESE—The Sensual Side of Japan, and ELEMENTS OF JAPANESE DESIGN—Understanding & Using Japan’s Classic Wabi-Sabi-Shibui Concepts. For a full list of his 40-plus books on Japan see his personal website: http://www.phoenixbookspublishers.com/.
