Posts tagged tokyo
Bathroom Humor
Bathrooms. Toilets. Water closets. The Loo. Porcelain thrones.
No matter what you call it, this space is universal. Everybody’s gotta use it, and the Japanese are forerunners for creating state-of-the-art restroom settings that have exceeded my highest expectations of the perfect toilet.
After landing in Tokyo at 6:30 am and breaking the code of the train tables to transport me to the Tokyo Prince Hotel, I head straight to the lobby’s toilet facility. The comforting sight of the stick figure in the dress amidst the mass of Japanese characters beckons my bladder, and I walk inside. You would have thought that I had entered into a sanctuary. Such a peace and a warmth welcomed me in.
As I close the stall door behind me and twist the modern lock, a speaker next to the toilet paper automatically starts playing sounds of rushing water.
“How nice of my Japanese friends to ease any stage fright and encourage the relieving process,” I thought.
I sit down on the sparkling white, clearly sanitized throne and am surprised to experience a delightfully warm sensation- a heated seat. Genius. Another point for Japan.
So as I sit there almost too in shock to carry out the process I came in there to do, I spot an array of multi-colored buttons to my right that I could have sworn whispered “press me” as I near them.
One red button adjusted the seat temperature, a blue button offered bidet services, a green button sanitized the seat, a yellow button was another spray feature, and the rest of the buttons I failed to decipher from the foreign wing dings.
After meeting up with some of the STA Tokyo staff later that day and inquiring about the high-tech nature of the commodes, I have come to find out that Japanese toilets are also equipped to measure your heart rate, blood pressure, and cholesterol level based on a urine sample it takes. Then a robotic from within will let you know if you are in need of a doctor’s check-up. The seats also raise, lower, and tilt depending on desired back support.
So congratulations, Japan. You have officially raised the bar and the seats for toilets around the world, and for that, I am eternally grateful.