Bidet Culture in Japan
The culture of toilets is not something you traditionally hear anyone talking about, especially in the United States, but in Japan toilets and personal hygiene in general are extremely important both in public and private spaces.
The importance of toilets stem from the special emphasis placed on personal hygiene in Japanese culture. Practices like taking your shoes off when you enter a home or temple, taking a bath every night, and the use of bidets are all examples of Japanese ritualistic purification practices. It is also very common to see people in Japan, even before COVID-19, wearing masks while commuting to work to avoid spreading germs. All of this has been ingrained in Japanese culture and is reflected in everyday practices.
However, the use of bidets was not something that was originally practiced when they were invented. The first bidet was invented in Brooklyn, New York in 1967, years before Japan would open up their borders to Western trade and consumerism; therefore, you don’t see widespread use of bidets in Japan until 1982 when actress Jun Towaga was featured in commercials advertising for the first Japanese bidet. These commercials focused on the hygiene aspect of owning a bidet which made them extremely popular.
Today, 80 percent of homes in Japan have a bidet and many public spaces like malls and airports also have bidets installed. This is very different from homes and public spaces in the West so bidets are not always user friendly for travelers, but the Japan Sanitary Equipment Industry
Association has been making moves to standardize the icons used in electric bidet seats.
Bidets have modernized like everything else, but they provide a much different bathroom experience than your everyday toilet. Depending on how much you’re willing to spend or how technologically advanced you are, there’s a range of bidets to choose from. Special features range from air conditioning and seat warmers to music options. There’s also been advances made in using bidets as early disease prevention devices. These new bidets can read sugar levels in urine and measure blood pressure. These medical advances are extremely important especially in this “post- COVID” world that we’re now moving into. It could take the strain off of the medical field and lessen the number of unnecessary trips to the emergency room because it would allow you to monitor your vitals in your home without any medical training.
