CuppaGemma

When I was first househunting in Tokyo, the realtor showed me a very nice apartment. He told me that I had to see because even though the square footage was significantly less than others in the price range (about 20% less) and the price was significantly more (also about 20% but negot.) I “had” to see this new place.

One of the selling points was the washroom. Not because there was  marble counters or a huge deep tub or a stunning amount of space for the linens , but because of the red toilet.

It had features, heated seat, warm water bidet and all of this came by the control panel on the side. AS a young woman in her early twenties it was somewhat more than disconcerting to be standing in this unit bathroom with the agent and listen to this as the number one selling point of the place.  I guess he was hoping I would not notice the lack of both draperies and natural sunlight, the higher rent and the odd wasting of space with tunneling hallways into little dark rooms.

But TOTO has made more than a fair deal of money in Japan with their toilet technology. This Washington Post story points out that electric toilets now grace 68 percent of homes and account for 4 percent of household energy consumption. Recent innovations have made monthly costs for the toilets’ electricity use decrease to only $2.59.

And even in some nicer public washrooms, certainly at all major hotels, you can find them. Whether you choose to make this investment in technology and comfort (there likely is an i-Pod doc somewhere) depends upon your willingness to part with as much as $4,000.

I took the place with the much more old fashioned type of loo- a big or little flush option and the water from the tank also served as a little handwash basin.