Tofugu.com's Ultimate Guide To The Japanese Toilet

Above, a western-style toilet in Japan with gadget controls. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Many westerners are be intimidated when confronted by a traditional Japanese squat style toilet, especially if they've never used one before. Since squatting is not normally done in western countries, the muscles required for this aren't as conditioned as the average Japanese person's. (This makes me wonder: How do elderly Japanese people handle this, especially those who have difficulty with their legs?)

Westerners's fears basically center around two things: 1. What if you didn't pull your pants down far enough (or the right way) and your "business" lands inside? 2. What if you lose your balance while squatting and you fall back and land backwards right into it? (The second one was also told to me years ago by a magazine publisher who lived in Japan for a while. He said he was always worried about the possibility of this happening.)

Thankfully, Japan has adopted the western-style sit-down type of toilet that we're all familiar with. The nice thing about those, many of them have nice gadgets including bidet sprayers with temperature and force adjustment dials and heaters.

Luckily for me, I've never had to confront this problem during my seven trips to Japan. I've seen restrooms in major Tokyo department stores that had both kinds available.

If you are planning to visit Japan anytime soon and have concerns that the only available toilet is the squat kind where you're at, Tofugu.com has an article on "The Ultimate Guide To Pooping In Japan."

It begins with:

I’m sure most of you are familiar with the wondrous Japanese toilet, especially since Tofugu has written before about some of the specialness that is the Japanese potty. However, no matter how much you’ve read, you might find yourself unprepared with the reality of trying to use a Japanese toilet. Thus, I’m going to walk you through where to find the restroom in Japan and some of what might be in store for you once you’re inside.

To read more, go here.