Japanese Toilets

Its been busy since I returned from Japan, but there are a couple more posts I wanted to get up before getting back to normal UK stuff :)

In Japan, everything is pretty advanced. However, I was still surprised when checking out the bathroom in my hotel room to find a toilet that looked like this:


Notice the 'dashboard' on the left which has several electronic controls. The toilet seat itself is heated so its never cold. When you sit down, the toilet 'turns on' and begins to fill the bowl with water -- an event that was a little surprising the first time! The controls include a button to turn water on (ie like a bidet), a water pressure dial, and a stop button. Flush is also a push button rather than a traditional crank handle.

The other neat thing about the bathroom is that it had its own clock built into the wall, complete with alarm clock. I wonder if that is so you can set an alarm for how long you are in the bathroom for? I didn't use it, but could see that feature being useful for Astrid getting ready!