The Japanese "smart toilet" (technically the onsui senjō benza (温水洗浄便座), "warm-water cleaning seat," but universally known by the brand name Washlet) is one of the small everyday marvels that most surprises first-time visitors. A heated seat, a warm-water spray, a dryer, and a panel of buttons turn an ordinary bathroom fixture into a quietly high-tech experience found in homes, hotels, and public restrooms across the country.
A seat full of functions
At its core the device is a bidet built into the toilet seat: a retractable nozzle sprays warm water for cleaning, adjustable in temperature, pressure, and position, followed by a warm-air dryer. But the features multiply from there. The seat itself is heated, a genuine comfort on a winter morning; many models add a deodoriser, an automatic lid that opens as you approach, and a sound function (often called otohime, "sound princess") that plays a flushing or water noise to mask any embarrassing sounds, sparing the user (and, in the past, all the real water once wasted flushing repeatedly for privacy).
Everywhere, and a point of pride
The Washlet was launched by the company TOTO in 1980 and spread so completely that the electronic bidet-toilet is now in the large majority of Japanese households and a standard feature of hotels and even many public and convenience-store restrooms. For many travellers it becomes an unexpected highlight, and occasionally a source of comedy, faced with a wall of unlabeled buttons in Japanese. Alongside it survives its opposite: some older or rural places still have the traditional Japanese squat toilet set into the floor, the low-tech ancestor at the other end of the spectrum.
Words & idioms to take away
Idioms & proverbs to carry away
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ウォシュレット (woshuretto, "Washlet"): originally TOTO's brand name, now used loosely for any warm-water washing toilet seat, the way a brand becomes the everyday word.
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温水洗浄便座 (onsui senjō benza): the generic term, literally "warm-water washing toilet seat"; 便座 (benza) alone is the toilet seat.