What I already missed about Japan : High tech toilet

YES, that famous Japan high-tech toilet / washlet! I came across a few during my stay in Tokyo – in my hotel room, in Ministry of Environment Japan’s office and in the Sakura Lounge @ Narita Airport.

The toilet has a heated seat (OMG so comfortable especially in the freaking cold morning/night), automatic lid, water jets with adjustable pressure and perfume. There are computerised control panels on your right and at the back of the seat. Thoughtful design.

First-time foreign visitors to Japan are often baffled by the complexity of these Japanese high-tech toilets, which feature Japanese language instructions as well as small pictograms. But don’t worry, most of them have English instruction nowadays.

The first time I walked in the hotel room.. "Smart toilet, is that you?"

"Oh, yes you are. Nice to meet you"

These are some interesting facts about the high-tech toilet (googled) :

Pioneering Toto designed its first models by asking hundreds of its employees to test a toilet and mark, using a string stretched across the bowl and a piece of paper, their preferred location for the water jet target area (they’ve done a very good job!).

For the problem of nozzle angle and water temperature, there was a particular development team dedicated to these tests.

Standard functions include heated seats, water jets with pressure and temperature controls, hot-air bottom dryers and ambient background music.

In most recent toilet models, the lid automatically lifts when a user enters the restroom. As soon as the user leaves the room, both the seat and lid automatically glide back into horizontal position.

A new smart model promises to also save electricity on seat heating by effectively "learning" its users' daily habits. It takes this type of toilet one week to learn when the people living in the house are using it -- in the morning, at noon or in the evening. So the temperature of the seat is raised only at that time of day (this kind of toilet is SO smart!!)