Bathrooms in Japan

Going to the toilet in Japan is quite an experience. There’s the camping experience or the spa experience depending on where you go.

The camping experience is using a “Japanese style” toilet. And they are the majority of what is available everywhere you go. They are basically a porcelain oval hole in the ground that flushes. In public parks they are the worst – urine smelling and no toilet paper. In a hotel or train station they have toilet paper. This is true of men’s and women’s toilets. Japanese folks must have really strong thighs since they use this type of toilet frequently!


The spa experience is using a “Western style” toilet (what we think of as a regular toilet). Some toilets have a seat warmer. Some have a button you can push to make a sound of a toilet flushing; I’m guessing this feature is to mask any noises that you might make while on the toilet. There are 2 settings for water to spray your bottom at different angles. And some have a dryer feature. I haven’t experienced on of these yet!

And the Japanese don’t use paper towels. Each person carries around a little hand towel to dry their hands with. I end up wiping my wet hands on jeans unless I’m in an upscale bathroom where they have an air dryer.

Footnote: the signage for indicating mens' and womens' bathrooms are often interesting and inventive.