Thursday, March 16, 2006

   Japanese Bathrooms
Here it is - the long awaited posting on bathrooms! Japanese bathrooms to be more specific. I would like to start with the most serious of the toilets I will talk about. The eastern style toilet. I did not see much of this type of toilet in Tokyo. The one time I did see it was in a.. ummm… urgent situation. Not really the time I want to be figuring out angles of approach. If you notice, it is basically a porcelain hole in the ground. There is nothing to brace yourself against, so there will be some balance involved. You will also want to be very aware of where your clothing is during this process. I expect dresses may be an advantage in this situation. If you have ever been camping in the woods, you will get the general idea of what is involved, except that there is actually a target which you are expected to hit here.


Now for a more lighthearted look at the variety of plumbing I encountered.

First off, the Ceylon Urinal. The Japanese are big on hygiene, so you will find very few urinals that require physical contact to flush. You will also find very few public restrooms with paper towels. They all had the motorized air dryers – also motion activated. This urinal reminded me of the Ceylons from the old Battlestar Galactica with the single red eye that went back and forth. I have seen much smaller motion detectors, so I am assuming they were going for style here. Also – it was snowing outside & someone had left the window open, so I decided not to use the urinal at this location.


Next up is the James T Kirk memorial toilet. I had a friend that was a Star Trek fan that would always take pictures of the bathroom in his hotel whenever he went on vacation. So, when I went to Japan I took several pictures of interesting bathrooms in his honor. The control panel on this particular toilet definitely made me think Star Trek. Remember that bathroom with the open window? Yeah – same bathroom. However, this toilet had a heated seat. It sounds nice, but in a snowy bathroom it was quite a shock. Also – I don’t have a close up of the control pad, but there are a number of somewhat cryptic buttons on there & I did not bring my dictionary into the bathroom with me (what was I thinking?). So, I got to find out that one of buttons helped in cleaning with a stream of water… not as warm as the seat, I might add. I continued experimenting until I found the one to actually flush & ended the experience there.


The next item on the list is the handicapped urinal. I believe this was in one of the nicer hotels (not one I was staying at). I was staying in a more modestly priced hotel until they set me up with a furnished apartment (for $600 per week). Notice the lovely wood on the rails surrounding the urinal. They are obviously trying to make a good impression. If I had trouble standing I don’t think I would be trying to use the urinal.


Last up, is not the most impressive, just the one I couldn't really figure out. If I remember correctly, instead of a sink in this bathroom, they had a faucet on the tank of the toilet. The water only ran while it was refilling the tank when you flushed. A wonderful conservation of resources, although a little awkward in practical use.


Other notes – small bathrooms, no pix. In the hotel room I stayed in for my first week in Tokyo, I got to stay in a Western style room. Twin size bed, desk, tv & a lovely view of a metal wall. The shower there was built for people that are not very tall. I am 5’ 8” tall & with 1 hand, I could touch the top of my head and the ceiling at the same time while in the shower. I work with several people over 6’ tall, I don’t think that would have worked for them.
They moved me from the hotel near Tokyo eki (train station) to Tokyo weekly mansions in Akasaka. By the way – mansions in Japan are really condos. The bathroom there was… smaller than the hotel. When I was sitting doing my business, I could lean forward and rest my head against the wall. There was only one faucet to turn for both the sink and the shower. There was a small valve that would direct the water to the destination that you wanted. I will write more about my apartment in a later post.

Until next time.

-bunraku

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