That flushing sound....
 

This one was new to me. A few days ago here, one of the magic toilet seats I used somewhere had a button that, when pressed, repeatedly generated the sound of a toilet being flushed (without actually flushing it, of course).

Japanese toilet seat engineering continues to lead the world!

Any other new useless improvements that I should be checking out on my last few days of this trip?

Perhaps you were in the wrong bathroom. My sources tell me that the recorded flush sound has been a common feature of high-end ladies loos for many years.

It's not "useless" - it's actually saving the environment. How? It seems that some women use the sound of a flushing toilet to cover up the noises that accompany some bodily functions.

Replacing the flush sound recording with a sound clip from "When Harry Met Sally", could make for an entertaining Japanese TV show...

It's a "modesty" button. There's a widespread habit of people (not just Japan, BTW) flushing the toilet to mask the noise of their farts. This practice, of course, wastes water. So, to have the same effect without the waste, the latest premium models have a "modesty" button.

Definitely not a habit of Japanese men. Once they're ensconced in the stall, hey are happy to share their soundtrack with the world.

At the urinal, I wish they'd fart more to cover the sound of the elaborate hawk and spit routine.

I hope you have an opportunity to experience a toilet with an automatic lid opener...it'll surprise your pants off!

oh yes. and not just high-end places, it*s a random bonus feature that can turn up anywhere

as jib71 and ninja138 have said, it does save water as it stymies a real need [for some] to flush in order to mask their body*s propensity to call attention to itself. and who knows how many trees and human-hours unblocking toilets are saved as only a light layer of paper might be used to lessen splashbacks rather than an excessively heavy layer to dampen those tell-tale noises of impact [the commonly used western equivalent to electronic flushing sounds :td:].

I think this issue of the general sonority of Japanese men deserves its own thread. Starting with the "isshhh" used when getting off a chair, to the extra-loud sneezing with much theatrics.

One time I was coming back into Japan, happily esconced in the Narita Express. The guy across the aisle pulls out an onigiri, eats half of it, and spends the next 57 minutes making that incredibly irritating smacking sound. Can't imagine how this guy gets any sleep after a 9 course kaiseki meal.

And I just thought it was just a side effect of that article in the Japanese constitution which requires every piece of machinery in the entire country to talk to you (but only provide useless information).

Haven't seen the toilet seat cover which snaps to attention yet, that sounds like something out of an episode of Gomer Pyle.

Have mjm show you one of the bathrooms in the Roppongi Hills Residences. After a month there, going back to the US where you have to actually lift the lid and flush all by yourself seems like quite the tragedy.

;)

The thing that has always struck me about those is the Beep Beep Bbbbbbbbbbb.....

just before and as it shuts. Under normal circumstances, i.e. non-post bear visitation days, I am already channel surfing back in the living room before hearing the warning beeps preceding shutdown.

It is almost as if it is warning those subject to day dreaming (i.e the most definitely ponderous but not necessarily sonorous, although certainly those oblivious to the malodorous) that they are about to become encapsulated.

Woow! That would definitely be something. Does it come with a remote control one can hang in the key chain, or attach to ones trousers?

Whatever you do, don't just push the buttons and see what happens, when the lid is up. :)

The device is called Otohime, made by Toto, the premier purveyor of bathroom fixtures and the inventor of the Washlet.

It has been mentioned that one would expect to find this device in women's public rest room. If installed in a men's toilet, shouldn't it be called otoouji?

The most recent iteration installed does in fact have a wall mounted removable remote control. About 5cm by 30 cm. I can only imagine how much fun it would be to stand outside the door with one of those causing shrieks of terror as I alternately dial up jets of ice and warm water on the posterior of my unsuspecting victim.

What? A remote control 5cm by 30cm? Is that a rod for pressing the buttons remotely on an arms length?

Anyhow, more fun would of course be to have a multi-remote control with all toilets in the house/apartment hooked up on one remote control, causing multiple shrieks of terror after that delicious backed bean dinner. :cool: