No one likes their euphemisms (enkyoku na kotoba) and circumlocutions more than the Japanese. If there is an inoffensive (sashisawari no nai) way to say something, they will find it; and if there isn't, they will make one up.
Of course, the Japanese do not have a monopoly when it comes to linguistically beating around the bush. Victorian-era British referred to their underclothes as "unmentionables," while Russians once called the "restroom" (an American euphemism for the john) "the place where the czar goes on foot."
But only Japanese could create a squeaky-clean word like gofujo, or "the honorable unclean place," for the little room. These euphemisms may seem harmless, but they can cause no end of misunderstanding.
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