A standard sitting toilet in Japan has the integrated bidet with two settings: for posterior wash or feminine cleaning. A few seconds after the button is pressed, a corresponding nozzle will come out from underneath the toilet seat and squirt water. As some Japanese words either looked Chinese or sounded Western languages, I was able to understand or guess the functions of the buttons.
I had first learned the concept of bidet in France, from where the word originated but only few houses were equipped with this bathroom fixture. I was wondering what this additional low-mounted sink was for, until somebody explained to me that French people were so lazy to bathe everyday that they had invented this to wash at least the essential body parts!
At Ah Yu's house, the toilet also had a clever saving-water design: a faucet and an handbasin were on top of the cistern. As soon as you have flushed, you can rinse your hands with the water routed to fill the tank.
During our stay in and around Moriya, public washrooms were easily found everywhere and all of them had minimal facilities like two toilet rolls inside the toilet room, soap, tissue paper and hand-dryer.
Once, we were having an outing when it was time to change Yuri's diaper. As Emi had forgot to bring a spare one, we rushed to a department store to buy a packet and immediately released Yuri's heavy burden at a washroom with baby facilities. It was as big as a dental clinic!
Emi told me that the Japanese were taught since small to care about other's feelings before their own. Because of their attitudes towards other toilet users, they will not climb on top of the toilet bowl to relieve themselves, a practice in Malaysia which has been given warning notice inside some of the public toilets.
And they will never need a National Toilet Summit to educate the public about the importance of clean commodes.
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