Posted on 04/01/2015 1:01:32 PM PDT by lulu16
It may not have been the Japanese who came up with the saying “cleanliness is next to godliness,” but the Land of the Rising Sun certainly has its share of neat-freakiness. After all, the word for “pretty” in Japanese, kirei, also means clean. This cultural obsession with keeping things tidy has resulted in the development of some uniquely Japanese habits regarding one of the more delicate aspects of daily life: the bathroom. For anyone planning a trip to Tokyo who doesn’t want to be caught with their pants down when nature calls (or anyone just looking for a little bathroom reading), here are some essentials for potty talk. Ahead, five things you need to know when you gotta go…in Japan.
1. Japanese bathrooms come with their own footwear. Remember that one friend you had growing up — the one whose mom would always nag you to take your shoes off at the door when you went over to their house? Welcome to Japan. The nationwide no-shoes rule extends to offices, schools, fitting rooms, and even drinking establishments. This came about not because of some kind of widespread foot fetish, but because in Japan it’s traditional to sit on the tatami floor — and no one wants to lounge around on all that crap stuck to the bottom of your shoes (not that anyone litters or lets their dog poop on the sidewalk in Japan).
Private homes and public spaces alike usually have a row of comfy, inside-only slippers awaiting guests near the door. But, the shoe swap doesn’t stop there — when you visit the bathroom, you’ll find yet another pair of slippers to change into. And, lest you confuse them for the others, these will probably be decorated with a smiling cartoon character and the word toilet. Like the old "skirt tucked into the underwear" or "toilet paper on the shoe" gags, it’s a classic Japanese faux pas to accidentally walk out of the bathroom with the toilet slippers still on.
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http://www.refinery29.com/bathroom-culture-japan?utm_source=email&utm_medium=editorial&utm_content=everywhere&utm_campaign=150401-april-horoscope
A former place of employment, which employed many Asians from several countries, had a real problem with the toilets that had seats. At least in the women’s bathroom, some of the women would ‘squat’ on top of the toilet seat. Seriously. Most of the toilets seats were broken and you didn’t want to try sitting on them for two reasons: one-they had been squatting on them with their shoes on (and medical laboratories have lots of germs on the floors) and two-the seat was unstable and any slight movement, by you, on the seat could throw you off onto the floor. The place had two bathrooms with about 18 stalls total for the women......every seat was broken.
There is more bacteria inside someone's shoes. It is a warm petre dish. I know a lady who got Athlete's Feet from trying on clothes at a department store - it was the only place where she took her shoes off outside her house. And she lives alone.
I do not go bare-footed at the airport, because when ya take your shoes off, you have no idea was foot thing someone else has and they have just walked in front of you.
On that show called, "The Doctor's" they had a lady on with this foot odor "malady." She was a dance instructor and spent most of her day dancing bare-footed on a wood floor. So she picked up everything that was on the floor, every smidgeon of bacteria known to man, and slipped her feet into her shoes and would go home and wonder why her feet smelled so bad.
On the show the doctor interviewing her asked to smell her foot so she lifted up her foot to his nose and he sniffed. He could not describe the smell but admitted that is was really bad.
Do you think that he would tell her to wash her feet before she slipped them into her shoes? Nope, when he started on the antibiotics and eating better I wanted to barf. You would think that the doctor would have had at least one class in microbiology that he remembered from his college days.
LADY, WASH YOUR FEET WITH ANTI-BACTERIAL SOAP AND THEN NEVER PUT YOUR FEET INTO YOUR SHOES IF YOUR FEET HAVE NOT BEEN WASHED FIRST!!!
There I feel better now.
My deceased best friend took off her shoes at the front door, and asked I do, also.
New carpet. She also had a small sign posted for all to read about removing shoes.
Her house, her carpet, her rules - - I didn’t take offense at all.
But it was fun teasing her - -
Baby wipes are a good alternative - esp the cucumber-scented kind!
‘_________speaker that makes a flushing sound_______’
Now THAT’S something I would love to see in all public places here in the U.S.!
Ya know, I now think all this bathroom talk and the many styles of accomplishing this need in other countries may be the reason I’ve had no desire to travel!
So sue me. : ^ }
Wait until you get older. It’s not fun using a low toilet - what’s with that anyway?? Having such low ones.
Ever grateful for ‘higher’ ones - - -
I’m thinking that I will like it over there. I detest wearing shoes indoors, even in public places. Shoes are for outdoors. In my own home, I request that you take off your shoes in the mud room.
The neighbor ordered one of those fancy Japanese toilets and it came with Ginsu knives. The lawsuit is in June.
This from a country that worship pre-teen girls in school uniforms.
I wonder what phrase the Japanese use to politely excuse themselves to go to the bathroom?
My recent favorite from The Walking Dead is, “ I’m going to send a fax to Cleveland.”
I have a Toto washlet from Japan. I think it’s great.
But there is no way in the world I could squat as described in this article.
“Excuse me, I go visit with American President”
What, not sharp enough?
belly laugh, which is better than lol....
...........no kidding about travel!
..........I have cut down all my flying to bare essentials. Primarily that’s my annual trip to Alaska and absolute musts like weddings and funerals. The Germanwings thing being the last straw.
Re going to a public restroom for the guys (GI’s)in Japan was really no big deal but frequently too you would encounter a mama-san squatting over a floor level toilet! I never hung around long enough to see if she was performing #1 or # 2.
Notwithstanding
“Excuse me, I am going to give the Obama kids swimming lessons”
Actually, I have always (for the majority of my life) admired the Japanese people. Whenever I see some Japanese tourists, I almost always try to speak with them and I am rewarded by meeting polite, attentive visitors who seem genuinely pleased that I wanted to speak with them.
Within the past year my wife and I were in Nashville attending an concert by some elite musicians (Vince Gill was among them). There were 4 older Japanese gentlemen in line to buy tickets. Never would have thought that they would be in Nashville attending a Texas swing concert, but there they were. One recent music festival had a young lady clogging contestant from Japan. Another event had a couple of young guys (guitar and banjo player) from Japan in attendance. So, I think that some types of American music have a following there in Japan.
This from a country where peeing and/or pooping on somebody is considered “been there, done that” boring sex.
I don’t ‘travel,’ but I also fly to occasional weddings, etc.
Kind of funny, tho, because I LOVE to fly. I absolutely love flying!
I had the pleasure of using my ‘rewards’ to fly myself, a daughter, and her 2 teens this past Oct., to a wedding in CO.
Funny story: That flight in Oct., we passengers boarded the plane in Burbank, CA via two ramps - walking towards the nose of the plane - rather than walking a jetway, or stairs. My 17 year old grandson was about 9 yards behind me, dragging his luggage.
The cockpit was open so I shouted to the captain. ‘We have (at least) 2 first-time fliers this morning!’ Pointing at the grandson.
Captain shouted back: ‘it’s my first time, TOO!’
That’s Southwest for ya!
The crash into the Alps does not deter me one bit.
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