[Unit 4 Tips] – Japanese Toilets, Baths and Shoes!

Japanese Toilets

Apparently, “toilets” are the number 1 item which visitors to Japan find confusing to use. So I think I’d better mention it here.

The picture below is a typical toilet setting in Japan.

You can see the water streaming down into the cistern (when you flush it) and there are some buttons next to the toilet seat.

You wash your hands above the cistern after you finish the business – that’s easy to figure out, but what about the buttons? If you have a closer look at them, they look like:

Yes, these toilet seats are usually kept warm electrically and come with “shower” functions. If you press the top button (with a “3” lying on its side – indicating a bottom), you will get warm water sprayed onto your bottom. If you press the button with a picture of a woman with or without long hair, their “bidet” function will get activated. Usually they have a self-cleaning function after each use to keep the shower heads clean and almost all hotels and big shops have these toilets installed!

When you want to stop the shower, you press the stop button. In the photo above, it is the pink button. Similar to remote controls for AV equipment, a stop button usually has a square printed on it. Even if you can’t find the stop button, don’t panic. If you lift your weight off the seat, the shower will stop automatically.

Some of these toilet seats incorporate a sensor that flushes the toilet after use automatically but not many have that function. Flushing button/lever is usually located elsewhere. In this picture, it is located to the right of the cistern itself.

You may still come across squat toilets, just like many countries in Asia, but they are getting more and more scarce these days.

You can purchase one of these toilet seats (usually referred to as “washlet”) in almost any appliances shop. (Big shops will offer them duty free.) Prices range from 20000 yen to 100000+ yen. Expensive types have a dryer and/or a self-opening lid built in! The only thing you have to think of, if you wish to buy one, is the voltage. Models for the Japanese domestic market are for use at 100V. Then, you may need to purchase a voltage transformer with the right wattage (500 to 1000 Watts or VA) to use it at home.

Japanese bath

If you are staying in Western style hotels only, what I’m about to write is not quite relevant to you, but if you are going to enjoy “onsen (hot springs)”, you need to remember these rules.

• Many onsen facilities have a “no tattoo” policy – this is changing but still tattoos are a small taboo in Japan. I don’t think small tattoos are going to cause any problem but if you have large tattoos, there are chances that you may get asked to leave.

• You are to wash yourself fully before getting into the hot water tub (There is a space to wash your self near the tub. If they have a shower, use the shower, if not, use a hand bucket to scoop some water out of the main tub to wash yourself.)
• You must not use any soap or shampoo inside the hot water tub. Some baths prohibit you from using even a towel in the tub. – this is because the tub is for people to warm themselves or to absorb all the benefit from the mineral rich water. The water should be kept clean!
• If you are staying in an accommodation with a shared bath with other people, make sure you don’t let the water go in the bath tub after you finish bathing. In older buildings, a boiler for the bath water may be hidden but directly attached to the bath tub and if you let the water go without turning off the boiler, it could cause a fire!

Water temperature is around 40 degrees and many westerners will find it quite hot at first. However, I have seen/heard many westerners getting addicted to the Japanese style baths!

If you are visiting only big cities but want to have a feel of an onsen, there are places called “suupaa sentou (スーパー銭湯, super public bath)” where you can enjoy the feel of authentic onsen for a small entrance fee. Many of these “suupaa sentou” offer other services such as massages, Korean scrub, hot stone sauna, etc. with or without surcharges.

Removing your shoes inside = MUST have shoes on outside

These days, many people know that Japanese take off their shoes inside the house. If you are staying in a Japanese style inn (ryokan) or AirBnB, you will be expected to take your shoes off inside the building, too.

The thing is Japanese people are really fastidious about distinguishing things outside (where you walk in your shoes) and inside (where you don’t wear shoes any more).

That means, you are not expected to touch the ground outside with your bare feet (whether or not you wear socks).

If the bin is 2 meters away from the end of the area where you don’t wear shoes, you are still expected to wear outside shoes to get to the bin. Usually a pair of sandals or something like that will be provided for easy access, but if you touch the ground with your bare feet, you will be expected to wash your feet before coming back into the building!

If you leave a dirty footprint inside the building, you may get a hefty extra cleaning charge!

Also when you visit temples, etc., you are often required to take your shoes off and either put your shoes in a shoe shelf or carry them around in a plastic bag. Often they have wooden slats around the area where you take off/put on your shoes. Those wooden slats are placed there so that your feet don’t touch the ground after removing shoes, i.e. you are NOT meant to walk on them with your shoes on.