The Indelicate Topic of Toilets

I was out sightseeing on the twelfth of this month, so instead of twelve photos I took that day (which you’ve already seen in the Beppu blog), I’ll show you some (less than twelve, sorry!) photos of toilets here in Japan! (And this first photo isn't even mine; it was taken by another American here in Himeji.)
First, let’s get the terminology straight. The bathroom is called a “toilet” here, since typically the bath is in a room separate from the toilet. Asking for the bathroom will just get you a confused look. I wonder if it might get you pointed in the direction of the onsens (public baths). One day I’ll have to experiment and see what happens!

Once you find the toilet, you might be lucky enough to choose between the “western” style toilet and Japanese style toilet. Sometimes the stalls are conveniently labeled!

But before going into the bathroom, you’d better be sure you have tissues on you – or you might have to buy “used tissue”!!

Luckily, in the downtown areas, people are standing around passing out little travel size packages of tissues with advertising on them. Definitely take a package every time they’re offered!

I’ve already mentioned the “toilet slippers” – required footgear for Japanese bathrooms. I certainly see the necessity in the Japanese style toilets, but for western style toilets, I’m not convinced they’re needed. But I play along.

Inside the stall, you may find a roll of toilet tissue, but likely it does not perforations so you have to rip it against the toilet paper holder.

Some toilet stalls have white noise makers, to cover up any sounds you may be making. They think of EVERYTHING here!!

And there is always the “powerful deodorizer” button if necessary!

And in one public bathroom, I saw this helpful sign, instructing people on how poop should look.

Once you’ve finished your business, you’ll wander to the sink, because Mom said to always wash your hands after going to the bathroom. But there will likely be no hot water, no soap, and no towels. So if you think running your hands under ice cold water and then letting them drip dry is really accomplishing anything, except insuring chapped hands, by all means, wash your hands!