Tag - toilets

 
 

TOILETS

About 82% of all toilets in Japan have electric bidet toilet seats, with nearly all homes with flushing toilets having them installed.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 21, 2024
78% of electric bidet toilet accidents involve older models, report finds
Japan's product safety watchdog emphasizes the ubiquitous appliance's limited lifespan and advises users to regularly conduct safety checks to prevent mishaps.
Nippon Paper Crecia's Scottie brand toilet paper (right) and Daio Paper's Elleair brand toilet paper
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 21, 2024
Tokyo court dismisses extra long toilet paper patent lawsuit
The court dismissed a lawsuit filed by Nippon Paper Crecia against Daio Paper for allegedly infringing on its patents for toilet rolls.
A number of stone blocks originally intended for the building of Osaka Castle are set to find a new home in the toilet facility of the 2025 Expo in Osaka.
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2024
Unused stones for Osaka Castle diverted to expo toilet pillars
Designers emphasize the importance of utilizing the stone blocks that have never seen the light of day.
A makeshift squat-style toilet is still used at an evacuation center in the city of Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, six months after the Noto Peninsula earthquake.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 2, 2024
Six months on from Noto quake, shelter toilets are still squat-style
Reports of health deterioration among evacuees, many of whom are elderly, due to the discomfort of having to use such toilets have emerged.
Bidet toilets are the norm in Japan, where more than 80% of homes have one. But their numbers are growing worldwide.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 2, 2024
Feeling flush: Japan's high-tech toilets go global
Sales are surging abroad and especially in the United States, led by A-list bidet fans such as Drake, the Kardashians and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Foreign tourists get their photos taken in front of a public toilet that was redesigned as part of a project to transform public toilets into restrooms that can be used comfortably by everyone, during a Tokyo Toilet Shuttle Tour, in Shibuya Ward, on Thursday.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 6, 2024
Flushed with pride, public toilets a tourist draw in Tokyo
Along with taking in temples and cherry blossoms, Tokyo visitors can now join a curated pilgrimage of the city's more modern wonders: its public toilets.
An earthquake measuring up to shindo 4 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale that hit southern Chiba Prefecture was among several that have shaken the area in recent days.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 5, 2024
Emergency goods sell out as quakes worry Chiba residents
Bottled water and portable toilets are among items that ran out of stock at some stores over the weekend.
Wim Wenders (left) co-wrote the script for “Perfect Days” with top advertising creative Takuma Takasaki. Japanese star Koji Yakusho (right) won best actor at Cannes last year for his performance as the film’s protagonist, a taciturn toilet cleaner in Tokyo.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 27, 2024
Oscar-nominated 'Perfect Days' is 'not about toilets,' Wenders says
The director's film about a taciturn cleaner who keeps Tokyo's public toilets spotless prompts reflections on urban solitude, community and growing older.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 11, 2023
Japan's supreme court makes landmark decision on transgender rights
In the first Supreme Court decision over bathroom usage by sexual minorities, the body ruled it was unlawful to restrict the use of bathrooms by a transgender woman at the economy ministry.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Jul 3, 2023
Criticism over expression on bathroom use prompts change of LGBTQ guidance
The move has been seen as a setback for the Iwate Prefectural Government’s consideration for LGBTQ people.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 16, 2023
Japan's top court holds hearing on transgender woman’s bathroom restrictions
The resulting ruling on the case, which will mark the first time the Supreme Court has weighed in on the working environment for sexual minorities, is expected on July 11.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 30, 2023
Bidet toilet makers targeting wealthy people overseas
In the North American market, Lixil saw a sales surge amid a paper shortage caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 27, 2022
Shipments of high-tech toilet seats top 100 million in Japan
Although a commonplace feature in homes and other locations today, the bidet-style toilet seats struggled to be accepted for a long time.
JAPAN
Oct 19, 2022
Rest vroom: Japan's oldest toilet damaged in car crash
Tofukuji Temple in the city of Kyoto houses a toilet said to date back to the 15th century, earning it the designation of an important cultural asset.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 7, 2022
Nippon Paper sues Daio Paper over patents on very long toilet rolls
In a suit filed with the Tokyo District Court, Nippon Paper has demanded that Daio stop making and selling similar products and pay u00a533 million in damages.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2022
Beer made from recycled sewage quenches thirst in Singapore
'If you don't tell people it's made from waste water, they probably won't know,” said one drinker.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Oct 31, 2021
Lifting the lid on Shibuya’s designer toilets
The Tokyo Toilet Project has received considerable media coverage for its upscale public facilities. But how do these stylish porcelain thrones actually stack up?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Oct 23, 2021
It's past time we flush the 'weird Japan' narrative
As The Tokyo Toilet project continues, so does the problematic way we frame stories about Japan.

Longform

Yasuyuki Yoshida stirs a brew in a fermentation tank at his brewery in Hakusan.
The quake that shook Noto's sake brewing tradition