Word: toileting
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John Sheren, an airport information volunteer, says he had already been asked about the bathroom twice since he started his shift less than an hour before this reporter got to him. "People seem to have a weird fascination with it," he says. Indeed, sheets of toilet paper from the bathroom have apparently made their way for sale on eBay...
...Japanese bathrooms are the apotheosis of the nation's fascination with both cleanliness and high-tech gadgetry. The toilet at Tokyo Midtown may have been a rather basic model of what is called a "washlet," but its options included a warmed seat, bidet cleansing, spray cleansing (a rather different angle and spray from the bidet option), a "powerful deodorizer" and, of course, the "flushing sound" with adjustable volume. The last function is also ecologically friendly. Before the advent of the artificial running-water noise, many Japanese would camouflage the sound of their ablutions by flushing, thereby wasting tons of water...
...More than 60% of Japanese households are now equipped with washlets, and the unit available in the public bathrooms of the Tokyo Midtown pales in comparison to those that grace many Japanese homes and hotels. For just $5,000, Japan's largest toilet maker, Toto, offers the deluxe Neorest 600. It boasts, among other functions, five cleansing modes (front, rear, pulsating, oscillating and soft), a lid that automatically opens and closes, an air purifier, a massage option, an air-drier with adjustable temperature settings and an automatic flush. Most functions can be operated by a wireless remote control linked...
...bare bums emblazoned with happy faces - until a local church complained that the advertisement was inappropriate, and the offending bottoms were covered. Washlets have spread across the rest of Asia, too. A TIME editor reported that on a recent trip to Tibet he happened on a wonderfully toasty Japanese toilet in what he called a "truly medieval fortress town...
...Despite the proliferation of sophisticated washlets, there are still plenty of old-fashioned squat toilets in Japan. This makes any trip to a Tokyo bathroom an exercise in extremes, either a thigh-challenging balancing act or a luxurious pampering. Back at Tokyo Midtown, as I watched the dogs cruise by in their custom strollers, I wondered if Japan's vaunted toilet-makers have considered creating a pet-friendly washlet. After all, at least one firm is busy trying to develop commodes that can do everything from test for pregnancy to check the glucose levels of diabetics. A high-tech...