japanese relief
March 29, 2005 | 6 comments
Suprisingly there weren't as many Western toilets in Japan as there are in Taiwan. Everyone claims the Eastern style toilets are cleaner than Western style toilets since you hover over them, but really only your ass is cleaner -- not your shoes or pants -- which I guess is what counts. I got the technique for using Eastern style toilets down. 1) You MUST roll up your pants if they are long, otherwise they will get soaked in urine. Although your ass stays clean from the hovering, many people miss the actual toilet and with such low walls the floor is usually covered in urine (gross). 2) As you hover down, look for the shadow of your rear in the water's reflection. Get down as low as you can and center the outline of your crack (sorry) over the middle of the toilet. This will insure that you are aiming correctly. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of this, I'm sure you can imagine it. 3) Pull the crotch of your pants/underwear forward with your hands just to be sure they are out of the way. 4) Pee fast. Get it over with as soon as possible to reduce leakage or misses.
Now on the other end of the spectrum are the high-tech toilets with warmed seats and built in bedets. Let me just say, those built in sprayers are very exact. They spray right where it counts and it can be quite a surprise on your first try. After a while, I got really used to them and looked forward to a fresh hiney after each use. How I will miss Japan.
ah. yimay. you're hilarious. xo.
dahveed on April 1, 2005 9:54 PM
Hee!
They were pretty common in Seoul last time I visited, too. I usually just avoided out of panic except for a couple emergencies, but thanks for your tips -- will have to remember for next time. :)
yukino on April 11, 2005 5:34 PM
your blog just rocks...that's all I have to say about it : ) oh, and i love your lomo shots, too
C.Miller on April 12, 2005 2:28 PM
My parents retrofitted their home toilet with a heated/built-in bidet toilet seat after their first Japan visit. It also features this uncanny water jet aim, which led me to formulate a hypothesis of uniformly centered anuses - so suprising considering different the butt sizes, shapes and sitting postures.
Speaking/writing of Eastern toilets - do you figure men squat down to pee into those?
Ulf on April 16, 2005 10:42 AM
Ciao.
I know what you mean. Eastern toilet really takes sometime to get use to. My brother and I made it our mission to go check every resturant's restroom (also called Water Closet in China) that we went to in China to see whether it's western or eastern. If it's western, we are using it. If it's eastern, we'll see how long we can hold it. :)
Yuee on May 5, 2005 11:28 PM
men (in china at least) don't squat to pee
i used to hold it until i could find a western toilet, but then someone usually had already stood on the seat anyway. so i just learned how to do the asian squat
bocaj on May 12, 2005 12:33 AM