Ah, this is the life. Jack Daniels in the glass, and hot water shootin’ up your ass!
–from the beginning of the movie, Middle Age Crazy.
While I am not normally in the habit of carrying a drink into the restroom-the S.O. and I did have a chance to experience the marvelous technology that the Japanese have given to the rest of the world-when it comes to the art of bathroom technology.
The place we were staying came equipped with one of these:
This-for those who have never seen or experienced one before-is the “washlet” toilet. Complete with a heated toilet seat and a myriad of ways to depart the room of rest clean in all those “private parts”. It really is a great invention-I want to find a way to get one in my house.
This one came complete with an in wall mounted control panel:
Moving from left to right: the orange button is a “stop” button. The next two buttons control the spray of water up into your hindquarters. (Oshiri) Left is a strong broad spray the right one is weaker. The two buttons underneath allow for a massage spray and to move the nozzle back and forth.
Moving back to the top right-there is a control for a bidet. Used for what a bidet is ostensiblyused for-although in the spirit of equal opportunity I tried it. ( Probably the closest I will come to a cat bath this trip!) On the far right are indicators and controls to adjust the strength of the water flow and the nozzle positioning.
If you have never tried it is a novel experience.
No discussion of a Japanese bathroom would be complete without a glance at the ofuro.
The S.O. has a set up like this at her apartment here in Japan. ( which is currently rented for two years-or I would have moved there already). I’ve always liked the Japanese approach to a bath. A bath is for rejuvenation of the body and soul-the shower nozzle is for the business of cleaning. You will notice that the bathtub is higher than your standard American bathtub and that is a good thing-allowing you to lie back and soak in the heat of the water.
Speaking of heat-I’m always impressed by the Japanese approach to hot water heating. As is the case in other places there are no tank style hot water heaters-instead an on demand capillary system is employed. As utlitilities are expensive here-the hot water is normally of until you select it on-an important safety tip in both the bathroom and kitchen.
What’s cool is you can turn the hot water on, push the top right button and the bath fills automatically. Leaving you free to do whatever it is you like to do before a bath. ( Insert favorite sexual metaphor here). The bath chimes or talks to you when it is done. What’s also cool is that there are no taps etc to bump into inside the bath. The S.O. has that too-and I’ve always liked it.
Because its always good to be comfortable here-in the room where comfort and good flow matters most.