The Toilet 2021
I just got back from my first trip to Japan, and I'm now in love with the country. The ramen, yakitori and sushi. The gorgeous volcanoes. The fascinating people and culture. But of all the things I fell in love with, there's one that I can't stop thinking about: the toilets.
the toilet
Japanese toilets are marvels of technological innovation. They have integrated bidets, which squirt water to clean your private parts. They have dryers and heated seats. They use water efficiently, clean themselves and deodorize the air, so bathrooms actually smell good. They have white noise machines, so you can fill your stall with the sound of rain for relaxation and privacy. Some even have built-in night lights and music players. It's all customizable and controlled by electronic buttons on a panel next to your seat.
In Japan, these high-tech toilets are everywhere: hotels, restaurants, bus stations, rest stops and around 80% of homes. It's glorious. Then, I come back to the United States, and our toilets are stuck in the age of dirty coal mines and the horse and buggy. They basically have one feature: flush. No heated seats. No nice smells and sounds. No sanitizing blasts of liquid. It's like cleaning your dishes without water. It's gross. And it got me thinking: Why can't we have high-tech toilets too?
Most of the toilets in Japan are made by a company called Toto, which started the high-tech toilet revolution in 1980 when it unveiled the Washlet, a first-of-its-kind electric toilet seat with an integrated bidet. Toto has been innovating on the design ever since. So I reached out to the company. It put me in touch with Bill Strang, the president of corporate strategy and e-commerce at Toto USA.
"U.S. toilets are effectively bedpans with a drain," says Strang. Strang is originally from the Midwest, and he joined Toto 17 years ago. That's when he had his first experience with the Washlet bidet, and it was much like mine. It began with "apprehension, a little bit of angst," he says. But then he pushed the spray button and had a joyous sensation. The bathroom would never be the same.
Economists spend a lot of time analyzing how and why technology spreads from one place to another. They call it "technology diffusion." One study looked at the spread of 20 technologies across 161 countries over the last 140 years, and it found evidence that geographic distance significantly slows the spread of new gadgets. It fits with the pattern we see with high-tech toilets. Strang says that after Japan, high-tech toilets have mostly spread to nations along the Pacific Rim.
But the speed of technology dispersion has sped up significantly in the modern era. Another study found that the spread of technologies developed after 1925 has been three times faster than the spread of those developed before 1925. That makes sense, with modern transportation and communication and all. But it has been many decades since the dawn of the new toilet era in Japan, and we are still mostly sitting on old-fashioned porcelain here. "Sometimes a technology never diffuses in a given country, even if it is superior to existing technologies," says Dartmouth College economist Diego Comin, who co-authored the study.
In the end, the biggest barrier to the toilet revolution is probably not distance but cultural mores. The Japanese, Strang says, highly prize bathing, hygiene and cleanliness. When I was in Tokyo and Sapporo, it was common to see Japanese people wearing masks to prevent the spread of germs. When you go out to dinner there, you're often given a hot, moist towel or wet wipe so your hands are clean before you eat. The streets and subways are spotless, and hand-sanitizing dispensers are everywhere. It felt much different from back home.
For the last five years, Strang says, Toto has been featuring its technological innovations at the Consumer Electronics Show, and they've made a splash. The company showcased products such as its glistening Neorest NX2 dual flush toilet. It's got the standard bidet, a dryer and a heated seat with temperature control. But it also has a "tornado flush system," a "bacteria-neutralizing ultraviolet light," a "titanium dioxide-fired toilet bowl," a remote control, a toilet seat that automatically opens and closes and an air deodorizer. It costs $17,300. Other Toto toilets and seats cost much less, but the lofty price of Japanese-style toilets are another reason that they might not be catching on.
Comin says he has considered buying a Japanese-style toilet, but, he adds, "they are so darn expensive." He believes getting Americans to embrace them would require "significant investments to educate the public about the new product, marketing (for example, a commercial with George Clooney using a Japanese toilet) and bringing down the price by mass producing."
But Strang remains optimistic about the future of toilets in America. "There hasn't been a demand for this type of product in the United States," Strang says. "But there wasn't a demand for Steve Jobs to make a product called the iPhone."
When you are in hospital, ask hospital staff if you need help with getting to, using or going to the toilet. It is important to talk with your healthcare professionals about any continence issues you may experience when you are in hospital, so staff can investigate and help to solve the problem.
Incontinence can increase the risk of falling (when rushing to get to the toilet), of developing skin problems like pressure ulcers (from remaining in bed, without moving, for a long time) and delirium (acute confusion can arise as a result of a urinary tract infection).
Some people may feel a bit nervous about going to the toilet while in hospital. For patients who have limited mobility, the distance from the bed to the toilet can be daunting, and the possibility of having an accident in unfamiliar surroundings may make them feel anxious.
Many people are worried about how they will reach the toilet after a surgical procedure, or how they will use a bed pan if they have to remain in bed. Hospital staff deal with this concern every day. They are professional, understanding and supportive, and you will find that they will help you in your toileting without making you feel embarrassed. If you have concerns, ask the nursing staff when you arrive about what will happen when you need to go to the toilet.
Commode chairs placed by the bed can help if you cannot walk to the toilet. These chairs have a built-in toilet pan and are suitable for patients who can get out of bed but have limited ability to walk to the toilet. Nursing staff will always help you to get on and off the commode if needed.
Whether the frequency of the collapse was witnessed and/or whether the return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) were affected by the type of compartment was investigated in 794 patients (113 patients for whom the location of the collapse was not specified were excluded). a The frequency of the collapse being witnessed while the patient was in the toilet was not significantly higher than that in the bathtub/shower (P = 0.77). b The frequency of ROSC in patients sustaining CA while in the toilet was significantly higher than that in the bathtub/shower (P
a The 101 patients who sustained cardiac arrest (CA) in the toilet were stratified into four seasonal quartiles (x-axis). The number of CA in each quartile was 27, 22, 25, and 27, respectively. b The 101 patients were stratified into four 6-h quartiles (x-axis) depending on the time that the patient sustaining the CA was discovered. The number of CA in each quartile was 17, 30, 27, and 2, respectively
It is unclear who first invented the flush toilet. Although archaeological excavations in northwest India have revealed 4000-year-old drainage systems which might have been toilets, it is not clear whether this is genuinely the case.
However, the honour of producing the first toilet goes either to the Scots (in a Neolithic settlement dating back to 3000 BC) or to the Greeks who constructed the Palace of Knossos (in 1700 BC) with large earthenware pans connected to a flushing water supply.
By 315 AD, Rome had 144 public toilets (above right). The Romans treated going to the toilet as a social event. They met friends, exchanged views, caught up on the news and wiped themselves with a piece of sponge fixed to a short wooden handle.
In Medieval England, people used "potties" and would simply throw their contents through a door or window into the street. The more affluent would use a "garderobe", a protruding room with an opening for waste, suspended over a moat (above right). The name probably comes from the practice of storing robes in the toilet area so that the smell would discourage fleas and other parasites. Peasants and serfs, however, relieved themselves in communal privies at the end of streets. A huge public garderobe was constructed in London and emptied directly into the River Thames, causing stench and disease for the entire population.
Garderobes and public toilets were eventually replaced by the "commode", a box with a seat and a lid covering a porcelain or copper pot to catch the waste (Marie Antoinette's commode, below right). France's Louis XI hid his commode behind curtains whilst Elizabeth I covered hers in crimson velvet and lace, using sprigs of herbs to disguise the odours.
As the population of Britain increased during the 19th century, the number of toilets did not match this expansion. In overcrowded cities, such as London and Manchester, up to 100 people might share a single toilet. Sewage, therefore, spilled into the streets and the rivers.
He patented a number of toilet-related inventions but did not actually invent the modern toilet, although he was the first to display his wares in a showroom (right). He and his contemporaries, George Jennings, Thomas Twyford, Edward Johns & Henry Doulton, began producing toilets much as we know them today.
Bathroom technology really arrived in the 20th century with flushable valves, water tanks resting on the bowl itself and toilet paper rolls (first marketed only in 1902). In 1992, The US Energy Policy Act was passed, requiring flush toilets to use only 1.6 gallons of water. As a result, companies all over the world moved to develop better, low-flush toilets to prevent clogging. 041b061a72