A Tale of Two Toilets
Every country and every culture has its contradictions. Today as I prepare to return home for winter vacation, the two side of the Japanese life style are so glaring I feel the need to write about it. On one hand, Japan is a technological wonder. The train system is one of the most extensive and expensive in the world. It runs on-time and gives you a comfortable ride if you’re not boarding during rush hour.
They have mobile phones that have enough computing power to program a satellite; every big screen, flat screen, computer system, and surround sound stereo system is made here. Over 50% of the cars in the Tokyo area are equipped with satellite guidance systems which speak perfect polite Japanese ( a feat that many Japanese will honestly admit they have yet to master) and you can watch TV while you drive.
Yet, there is one question that wanders through the mind like a lost foreigner on the streets of Chiba City. Why do all the cars have guidance systems? Because the streets ain’t got no names or in other words no visible street signs. By installing $500 talking street maps, people can not only find their destinations but also help the decades old recession ridden economy .
When it comes to heating the difference between Japan and America can
be
summed up like this. To keep warm in Japan the options are limitless and
just as expensive: heated carpet, electric blanket, wall mounted room
heating unit, gas heater, electric ceramic heater, kerosene stove, halogen
lamp with a rotating fan, hand warmers, and a kotatsu (a heated blanket
covered table to keep the lower half of your body nice and toasty.
This
stuff sells like hotcakes over here. I
should know because I have six of the devices.
The reason for all the heating instruments:
NO central air conditioning
NO insulation.
In the morning I can tell the temperature outside without turning on the television or radio. All I have to do it get out of bed and look at the thermometer sitting on my desk.
Here are a few other contradictions:
Country Motto = Women are equal.
Country Practice
Office Lady (OL): Must look cute, wear a hideous uniform, smile, have no upwards ambition and has to serve coffee or tea to all the members (mostly male) of her co-workers.
Rule 27: Women over the age of 27 have almost a zero chance getting a decent job at many Japanese corporations. Hire pretty girls out of college, encourage them to date and marry upwardly mobile company salary man.
Children are our most valuable resource: On any given winter day the temperature in many Japanese schools can be between 25 to 40 degrees. Why no heat in the hallways, bathrooms, gyms, and common areas? Because many educators believe it will make them tougher.
College kids and the under 30-year olds all want to be unique: In order to realize that goal everyone wears brand name clothes and sport American/French/British/Italian logos. I have never seen so many expensive high end handbags in my life. The department store tem minutes away form my apartment has Chanel, Gucci, Burberry, Prada, Louis Vitton, and Armani boutiques. There's so much emphasis that not only do designer goods have their magazines dedicated to them, but a recently published survey declared that 1 in 3 Japanese people own at least one Louis Vitton product.
No smoking under 20: The government doesn’t want kids to smoke but you can find a cigarette vending machine on every other street corner and in many buildings.
Finally, I will end on the subject of this discourse: the toilet. The
toilet I believe is one of the essentials of gaining entry into the
ranking of a first world country. In Japan, I’ve used toilets that
talked, had heated seats, a gender customized bidet, a warm fan, butt
massage, played classical music, whose lid opened when I entered the
stall, an auto flush, and one with a remote control. The price tag for a
toilet can run from a mere $400 to over $15,000. There’s even a toilet
gallery/museum at the Toto store in Tokyo. Yet, you can walk into
the bathroom of a luxury hotel or expensive restaurant in see a nice shiny
hole in the floor, which is in truth the Japanese style toilet in which
with perfect balance you must squat down to use.
