You might remember my account on toilets, which I encountered last year while travelling through Moldova, Ukraine, and Russia (Travel and Toilets http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2013/03/travel-and-toilets.html). I didn't think to pick up the topic again, but my recent travels through Japan make this necessary. In Japan you see the opposite, you come across high tech toilets, so called bidet toilets.
Imagine yourself in a fancy restaurant, you ask for the toilet (お手洗いはどこにありますか？), you enter the toilet, and reach for the closed lid, and ... it opens by itself. Well, the toilet doesn't talk to you. The elevator does, however. Allow me to stray. I've been in an elevator together with a group and suddenly the elevator starts talking to us about being sorry for the slow ride. Of course, I've thanked the elevator upon leaving (どうもありがとう、エレベーターあさん。).
So here is toilet one and the operation panel. The seat is warmed and needless to say it's deoderized and satisfies highest hygienic standards:
Another panel:
You might also recall the rustic appearance of toilets on Russian trains, well let's have a look on the Japanese Shinkansen (新幹線).
How about toilets in a park? OK, let's look at the toilets in a park, the Hamarikyu Gardens in Tokyo (浜離宮恩師庭園). Less sophisticated, but still ... above international standard.
OK, I admit, I've cheated a little bit, because I didn't take photographs in places having only toilets, where you have to crouch down. And there are still normal toilets having a note telling people not to crouch.
I guess from now on I'll have to keep an eye to conditions at the toilet facilities all over the world.
Other blogposts about this travel to Japan:
The Kinkakuji in Kyoto
http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2013/04/the-kinkakuji-in-kyoto.html
Shinkansen (新幹線) http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2013/04/shinkansen.html
Japan and Garbage http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2013/04/japan-and-garbage.html
Small Shrines Along the Road http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2013/04/small-shrines-along-road.html
Cherry Blossoms (桜の花) http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2013/04/cherry-blossoms.html
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