During the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday last month, Chinese tourists reportedly spent around $959 million in Japan with many snapping up the "smart" electronic seats with clever built-in functions such as washing and heating.
The irony of Chinese consumers going crazy for made-in-China, high-tech toilet seats being sold in Japan has led to bemusement among domestic sanitary players, with some trying to seize the opportunity nonethless.
Japanese toilets have long and famously dominated the world of bathroom hygiene with their array of functions, from posterior shower jets to perfume bursts and noise-masking audio effects for the easily-embarrassed.
The latest "intelligent" model, manufactured by market leader Toto, goes a step further and isn't for the faint-hearted: it offers its users an instant health check-up every time they answer the call of nature.
Toilets in Japan are generally more elaborate than toilets in other developed nations. There are two styles of toilets commonly found in Japan;the oldest type is a simple squat toilet, which is still somewhat common in public conveniences. After World War II, modern Western-type flush toilets and urinals became common. The current state of the art for Western-style toilets is the bidet toilet, which, as of March 2012, is installed in 72% of Japanese households.In Japan, these bidets are commonly called washlets, a brand name of Toto Ltd., and include many advanced features rarely seen outside of Asia. The feature set commonly found on washlets are anus washing, bidet washing, seat warming, and deodorization.
