For whaever reason, Japanese toilets seem to hold a special fascination for us gajin. Whether it’s the convenience of toilet seats that wash and dry your butt for you while emitting negatively charged ions and playing music via a dedicated SD card slot, or the cultural challenge of using a traditional Japanese-style seatless toilet without falling in, Japan’s porcelain altars never disappoint. Japanese toilets can even save you from the embarrassment of others hearing the various bodily sounds you make when you use them, thanks to a device known as an Oto-hime (a play on the name of a princess from a famous Chinese fairy tale with the characters rearranged to mean “Sound Princess”), which is an electronic box that makes chirping noises or white noise when a toilet is being used. I noticed that a smart iPhone developer has brought this concept into the 21st century, with OtoKun (iTunes store link), a .99 cent software application that makes these noises for you. I’m sure the person will sell a ton of copies here in Japan.
Japanese toilets are the most advanced in the world.
