https://archive.ph/JKTIn

In almost all of SE Asia, especially Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, all of the toilets come with a hand-held sprayer. They also had this in the Doha airport and I'm not sure how common this style is outside of SE Asia but I'm guessing it's common. Japanese style bidets are very common in Korean households as well and I'm sure its easily a billion dollar business.

It is nice but the functionality is quite difficult for a person who's not used to this whatsoever. After you're done sh*ing, you grab the handheld sprayer and turn it upside down and reach behind you toward your butt and try as best as you can to aim it into your anus to wash as best as you can. People who have been doing this their whole lives can probably aim with a precision of a Marine Corp Sniper but to us, we look at it as alien technology. It's is quite difficult to use for a first timer and there are factors that worry us.

If its not aimed correctly, where does the splash go? If you're lucky it stays in the toilet boil. However if your aim is off, you can completely miss your anus and either shoot to much under or over which will shoot the water outside of the toilet bowl.

Also when I was using the bathroom in the Doha airport, the handheld sprayer had a soap dispenser next to it. I was curious what it was for so I YouTube'd and searched for instructions on what the soap dispenser was for and (kind-of) to my surprise it was soap to lather and clean your anus with your other free hand. After you lather and clean, you basically rinse your hand with the hose as well.

Some of the features I really like about my Japanese toilet:

* Heated seat

* Bidet with warm water

* “Omakase” power-saving setting that learns your schedule and turns off the heat during the times you are typically out or asleep.

* Flush with a button press vs. turning a handle. This sounds minor, but whenever I have to use a toilet with a handle it is noticeably less convenient as you often have to keep the handle turned for a couple of seconds for a proper flush.

* The flush button is also conveniently located on the wall next to the toilet rather than behind the user (good for courtesy flushes). The control panel communicates with the toilet via IR.

* Selectable flush volumes (eco, normal, large)

* Automatically flushes when you stand up

* Non-stick coating to keep the bowl clean. It also releases a bit of water and wets the bowl when you sit down to make the surface less sticky.

* Has a lever to lift up the toilet seat a couple inches from the base to easily be able to clean under the area where the seat sits atop the base.

* Lid and seat hinges are dampened so they never slam shut

Some things which I don’t like/use:

* It has a blow drying function which I almost never use (toilet paper works fine for drying).

* It has an air filter that I need to change once a year at a cost of about ¥2000.

* Haven’t run into this problem yet, but could be a pain in an extended power outage. I think you’re supposed to just pour water into it from a bucket to flush it.

Features which I don’t have but would want on my next toilet:

* Button to automatically raise and lower the lid. Bonus points if it’s motion activated to raise the lid when you enter the bathroom.

If anyone wants to explore the bidet space without replacing an entire toilet, I can recommend the Neo line of products from https://luxebidet.com/ They sell kits for under $70 USD that attach to existing toilets, using the space between the seat and bowl, and attach to the toilet's water supply with a tee fitting and one-way valve, either at the wall valve, or at the bottom of the tank. Installation should take less than 30 minutes for anyone handy with a screwdriver and a crescent wrench.

Their bidets are surprising effective, and do not require any electricity or hot water, as the water volume needed to be effective is small, and the water has usually been sitting in the pipes in a home's walls at ambient temperature. 10/10, would spritz again.

A bidet is standard equipment in Argentinian homes, even the poorest houses have it. Once you get used to it, it’s incomprehensible that in other countries people just wipe and…hope for the best.

But often it’s hard to install one in bathrooms that are not designed for it. So a Japanese toilet is a somewhat over the top solution in our house.

One caveat: Toto toilets waste stupid amounts of power. With the heater off, I measure 40-50W at idle across multiple different models. With a heated seat that’s active or with the water heater on, it’s much higher. (A lot of Toto models have a small tank that is kept hot — only the higher end models have an on-demand flow tankless heater.)

These are neat, but not an option for those in rentals/apartments. Instead, on the advice here, about five years ago I bought a “bum gun” from Home Depot, the fancy stainless steel version for maybe $60 at the time.

https://www.homedepot.com/b/Bath-Bidets-Handheld-Bidets/N-5y...

These deliver 90% of the benefits for under 10% of the cost, and less maintenance. It’s like a small metal garden hose with gun shaped valve at the end, you attach between the wall spigot and hose to the toilet with an adjustable wrench. Takes maybe 10 mins.

Would never go back to the dirty butt lifestyle. ;-)

Installed a pair of these in our renovation from 2018.

Would never go back.

Seat warmers, auto open, night light and auto flush are features no one seems to talk about but these are as incredible as the washlet itself.

This isn't the first thing that comes to mind when I read "Japanese toilet", what is the name of the toilet that is in the ground, that long oval shape with bump in front (or back?)

Update: "washiki" is the name

"In current models, the water spray is kept at a precise 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit" - so actually 38 Celsius because that's the temperature scale that Japan (and almost everywhere else) use.

These are so good. After you've lived in Japan for a while you go back to (pretty much any) Western country and feel like going back to the middle ages. It feels outright barbaric not to have this level of hygiene.

I guess it's like going to a place which doesn't use toilet paper?

A bidet is one of the largest increases in quality of life from a product I have ever experienced. My brother got one first and then it spread like wildfire across our family. I've never met anyone that actually uses one that goes back. I hope it takes over the whole world.

I’m surprised these never took off in Mexico. Water is cheaper than toilet paper, and you don’t have a basket of used toilet paper in the bathroom.

Americans don’t understand this because our national tv ads are for toilet paper. There’s even a social contention built in about the “quality of tp”. Let me tell you, if you spray your asshole first, the quality of the tp does not really matter.

https://unbloq.us/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/29/busines...

Via a tool that I made to auto-redirect to archived links :)

https://archive.ph/ZuAQ3

I haven’t seen anyone else discuss this and I don’t know the answer but…

Do water jets like this not spread worms and other intestinal parasites? I’d be especially worried about hand held jets in public restrooms and hotel bathrooms.

Does anyone have any hard information on that?

Well this is unexpected. Japanese toilets aside and the comments regarding which countries people have seen them in, and the hand bidet sprayers and their usage, as I understand:

- In Islam, Muslims must pray 5 times a day, but you must have 'Wudhu' which means you need to have performed the ritual wash before praying. You have to do it again if you've gone to the toilet. * When you go to the toilet, you must, as a requirement use water * So, most Muslim household bathrooms or public bathrooms in Muslim countries have a hand sprayer or at a minimum, a water container to fill.

I worked in Dubai and Saudi before, and apartments come with hand bidet sprayers.

Regarding Singapore, I wouldn't be surprised if this was influenced by Malaysia (a Muslim country, but they were part of the same country before) although when visited Malaysia I can't remember (ok they probably did) have a similar arrangement. I remember my Chinese friend telling me that her dad went to a Muslim school (a Malay school), so he pretty much uses water like Muslims do (when they go to the bathroom).

Regarding the deadly hand sprayers (pressure wise), usually in modern Mid East apartments: - They are connected to a tap so you can control the pressure - those bathrooms usually have toilet paper too, so you wet the paper to clean first, then you can direct the water on to your hand whilst you clean yourself with your left hand, finally dry with toilet paper. Final step of course, wash your hands! Hence why Muslims only eat or shake someone's right hand, knowing the left hand is on toilet duty.

I've been in corporate bathrooms in the UK, in a cubical, and you hear someone enter, pee (or even more) and exit without washing their hands!!! Not only once either.

The bottom line is, use water. No one can argue it's better to use paper. Some folks dislike of things from the Middle East lead them to argue toilet paper is enough. It isn't. (-_-)

Side note: If you're ever in Dubai and visit one of their big malls, like Dubai Mall, you'll question where the 1st and 3rd worlds are. Clean and maintained luxury rest rooms, you'll be happy to relive yourself in such restrooms, rather than dread using the toilet if you're outside. And they have good baby changing facilities too.

It's great for your master bathroom. I wouldn't put them in a guest bathroom because over time the wand accumulates poo - might be unsanitary after a while. I clean mine every couple of weeks.

Bidets will definitely spoil you. I try to avoid shitting in public now, and travel is annoying. Ass does not feel clean unless I leavec the stall moist. Not quite at travel bidet yet.

One thing they typically don't tell you about Japan is that not all of their toilets spray warm water. When you press that button, brace yourself for all possibilities.

Unsurprising. Took too long. Toto Washlets are incredible and very easy to use. They are very Tesla-like (before politics got in the way): you want one the minute you use one.

In Southern Europe (although these days I reckon it only has wide usage in the north of Portugal and Italy from my travels) we use the low tech version of this: a bidet.

While searching for a house to rent (and buy), that is always one of the criteria (in Lisbon - center of Portugal - they are not that common anymore).

It just seems so weird and unclean not to be able to wash ourselves after using the bathroom. I guess it's a cultural thing.

As someone who has been dealing with flared hemorrhoids since I was a teenager, I improvised my post-2 work by simply washing with the shower pistol whose cord is long enough to reach behind me while I'm sitting on the toilet.

Since then, whenever I search for a new apartment to rent, this became one of the criteria I look for! I simply can't go back to just dry wiping, ever.

I use the bemis bidet adapter. It's $50 US on amzn and requires no power (splices into the feed). Only wish the knob would spring back to the off position. Was going to give it to my parent with dementia but because it does not auto-off, I ended up using it myself. Great item. There are many other similar ones but I can only speak to the bemis one.

I’m a happy bidet owner who retrofitted one. The biggest challenge was understanding local regulations and product design when it came to backflow prevention.

https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=141&topicid=27...

What's a good and cheap way of installing one at home?

In my country I think you can't easily plug into the water source.

What if you spray diarrhea on the sprayer and that person doesn’t use it, the next person gets it up their azz

A lot of European brands (Villeroy & Boch, Geberit, Duravit etc) have Japanese style toilets for a while now, albeit often with less buttons and functions. It's getting more common in Northern Europe.

It's a bit surprising that every health care facility doesn't have these to make things easier on both the patients and caregivers. But money and maintenance (also money) I guess.

I’m a little concerned by the number of people here who seem to think it is totally normal to need to wipe a lot after going to the toilet. Is that a feature of the American diet?

Reminds me the phrase the "Future is already here, it is just not evenly distributed."

Lots of people take it for granted. But in many places outside of East Asia. They are not given.

I have to say that once you get used to all the comforts a Japanese toilet brings (washer, heated seat, blower) it is very hard to go back to a traditional toilet.

Only North-Americans have trouble with the concept that water is the best way to wash yourself after doing your business. Y'all seriously need to grow up.

When I discovered bidet in Italy, never want to go back to TP. (If all Asians switched to TP, how many trees would still stand?)

Using "The rise of <product>" often serves as a subtle form of advertising.

I'd recommend ignoring these infomercials.

I never feel clean after the business. I’ve always wondered if it’s my physiology or diet. Something wrong with me ? I’ve meant to try find out but it’s not something people like to talk about.

I just don’t understand how people like to walk around with even a small amount of poop wedged in their crack, irritating the area and coming into contact with their underwear, pants, it’s absolutely disgusting.

I got “stuck” in Asia during COVID for 3 years, when I returned back to my home country (zero bidet society) I forgot all about the lack of bidets as it was just common place. When I went to cleanup I never forget the horror and I had a sinking feeling, as if I was ejected from civilization or something.

There are cheaper solutions than japanese toilet, bidet or handhelds - using a bottle of water, you just need a good capacity, and need to refill before or after the deed. Aim at your anus and stretch your asscheeks with your other hand and do circle and robbing on your skin while emptying the water with the hand holding the bottle. It is a bit technical the first time, a bit disgusting but fecal mater is 100% washable so your hands and anus will be all clean and your anus will thank you for the rest of the day. But you need enough capacity for the water. You can also use soap and do two round while emptying each halves of the bottle. First round remove all fecal, then soap (use a gentle soap!) then empty the remaining of the bottle. You don’t really need soap though because the results with water only is already infinitely better than with toilet paper. You can use the toilet paper to dry your skin or use a small toilet exclusively allocated for this usage - if you are home take a brief cat shower and aim exclusively the anus. A bit more cumbersome because you need to remove your clothes and shoes if you wear them

I live off-grid in the deep woods of Sweden with no neighbors; I heat my 125 year old timber house with firewood.

For two decades I lived in a fancy flat with all the amenities in a large city.

Now I do it in two 100L plastic barrels in my stables that also have an outhouse, each barrel corresponds to one of my needs.

I neutralize number 1 with Corega tabs in the warmer months, I neutralize number 2 with a scoop of peat or sawdust.

I also wash myself (in number 1) after number 2 using soap and a 10L-bidon with a shower hose attachment that I carry with me like a briefcase from the house during the colder months.

The barrels are emptied regularly in a hole in the woods, in summer the dung beetles take care of everything. There's virtually no smell, actually less than in a modern bathroom with mechanical ventilation. It's always drafty in the outhouse and I usually leave the door open anyway.

I can wax poetic about sitting in the outhouse on a sunny day with the door open watching the blue sky and hearing the wind in the trees with the birds chirping vis-à-vis doing it a concrete box surrounded by high-tech plumbing and equipment, but ironically it just feels better not having any nastiness inside or anywhere near the house I sleep and eat in.

Just think about that for a second.

I've been to Japan and I actually prefer my way.

I think technical (smart?) toilets are nasty, nasty to clean and even nastier to repair if they break.

Less is more, if given the choice I'd much prefer a simple (dumb?) toilet with a shower hose next to it.

This is pretty common in most bathrooms in Sweden.

P.S.

Rimfree toilets are the shit.

DIY Alternatives

- Plant watering containers.

- Condiment squeezers.

And in a pinch I've seen...

- Dish soap bottles...

I know the Japanese refined this (as they do so many things such as — no offense to Italians — pizza and pasta; I think the Japanese often do it really well), but I always thought this was a French/European thing and not really what you call a Japanese toilet.

I’m certain the Japanese couldn’t be the first to find ways to heat seats or provide different settings for washing.

Slightly dissenting opinion on these Toto wondertoilets, or at least retrofit toilet seats for western toilets.

I got one at a garage sale for $20. Hooked it up and tried it. Quite a marvel of features. Remote control (with config LCD menu on the back), heated seat, 2D aimable spray with separate male/female settings, warm water reservoir and what all. Every single feature worked, but:

It dripped water. I caught all that with a container and a towel while experimenting. Then removed it again and hunted for the drip, only to find that this is simply not built to western plumbing standards. The water inlet is just a friction-fit plug with an O-ring gasket, held in by a clip. Plastic on plastic. I replaced the O-ring with a new one, tried again... only for some other degraded o-ring inside to have been jarred loose in the process and water now leaking from somewhere inside.

Service manual? Spare parts? Nada. You can, however (from the US at least - I'm in Canada) ship this back to Toto and they'll recondition it to new for a reasonable flat rate fee. That's the only repair option.

After which it would probably not leak. But friction fit plastic-on-o-ring is fine for toilet environments that are tiled, "wet" areas with a floor drain. Mine, however, is upstairs straddling the kitchen/family room boundary in a house built out of sticks and drywall. Major leaks are simply no go. Would I leave something like this pressurized, hoping only that some friction fit o-ring-on-plastic interface is not going to start leaking unexpectedly? Nope. The same thing equally applies to the new ones, which are about $600 at Costco, or were at the time I looked.

So the "experimental" toilet moved on to another tinkerer friend who, maybe, will replace all the o-rings or have Toto fix it some day. I'm a gadgeteer, so I thought I could make a solenoid valve box to go in series with the thing's inlet, whereby you push a button and the wondertoilet gets water pressure for the next 5 minutes, after which it times out and turns off again. Just to remove the "come home to unexpected flood damage" factor.

Aside from that... "testing" of course under real world conditions. But... a nice warm water spray after the #2 business... shall we say does ... smell a bit. And didn't quite get things to the point where no toilet paper was needed afterward, nevermind the heated blow dry (which this thing also had). I'll stick to western toilets.

25+ later

I've used less advanced versions for a few years. The quality varies; the most recent one we put in is pretty horrible to use (but better than nothing). I've always wanted to try a real Toto, especially with the drying feature.

A word of warning for female users:

> Habitual use of bidet toilets aggravates vaginal microflora, either by depriving normal microflora or facilitating opportunistic infection of fecal bacteria and other microorganisms.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21058441/

That commercial would be more effective if it used Nutella and shag carpeting.

If you get feces on your hands, a few wipes with paper towel is good enough.

Why do we need something fancier for a toilet?

I think paper is perfectly fine for most people who do not have certain medical problems, given a few prerequisites.

The main one is diet. Eat enough fiber so it's not a mess in the first place. This has many other benefits too. The next in priority is wet wipes. I strongly prefer them, and they are portable unlike a bidet. They are super useful while away from the toilet as well. After that there's technique. I am confident that the people who complain about paper and wet wipes are simply wiping way too hard causing chafing or even fissures. I don't want to get too graphic, but you also need to "relax" a bit down there for the most thorough job instead of just a surface level wipe. Normal paper first for removal of the "bulk material" and wet wipes for the residue.

That's it folks! If you do all this right, washing your hands afterwards shouldn't need so much effort either.

Bonus tip: why not just carry a little atomizer bottle filled with water so you can make your own wet wipes in a pinch? The spray is gentle enough to not completely saturate and ruin even the thinnest and cheapest toilet paper you find in the wild, and such a spray bottle is again very useful away from the toilet.