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Toilets in Japan are sometimes designed more elaborately than toilets commonly seen in other developed nations. European toilets occasionally have a separate bidet whilst Japan combines an electronic bidet with the toilet. The current state of the art for Western style toilets in Japan is the bidet toilet, which as of 2016 is installed in 81% of Japanese households. In Japan, these bidets are commonly called washlets, a brand name of Toto Ltd., and they may include many advanced features rarely seen outside of Asia. The basic feature set commonly found on washlets consists of anal hygiene, bidet washing, seat warming, and deodorization.

The word toire (トイレ) is an abbreviated form of the English language word "toilet", and is used both for the toilet itself and for the room where it is located. A common euphemism is otearai (お手洗い). This is similar to the usage in US English of "washroom", which literally means a room where something is washed, and "toilet", which literally refers to the act of self cleaning. It is also common to see another loan translation, keshōshitsu (化粧室), on signs in department stores and supermarkets, as well as accompanying the public toilet pictogram. The plain word for toilet is benjo (便所), from the word ben (便) meaning "convenience" or "excrement", and this word is fairly common. A potty, either for small children or for the elderly or infirm, is called omaru (sometimes written 御虎子). The Japan Toilet Association celebrates an unofficial Toilet Day on November 10, because in Japan the numbers 11/10 (for the month and the day) can be read as , which also means "Good Toilet". Unreliable source: date=June 2012

There are two styles of toilets commonly found in Japan; the oldest type is a simple squat toilet, which is still common in public conveniences. After World War II, modern Western type flush toilets and urinals became common.

The traditional Japanese style (和式) toilet is the squat toilet. A squat toilet differs from a sitting toilet in both construction and method of employment. A squat toilet essentially looks like a miniature urinal set horizontally into the floor. Most squat toilets in Japan are made of porcelain, although in some cases (as on trains) stainless steel is used instead. The user squats over the toilet, facing the hemispherical hood, i. e., the wall in the back of the toilet in the picture seen on the right. A shallow trough collects the waste, instead of a large water filled bowl as in a Western toilet. All other fixtures, such as the water tank, piping, and flushing mechanism, may be identical to those of a Western toilet. Flushing causes water to push the waste matter from the trough into a collecting reservoir which is then emptied, with the waste carried off into the sewer system. The flush is often operated in the same manner as a Western toilet, though some have pull handles or pedals instead. Many Japanese toilets have two kinds of flush: "small" (小) and "large" (大). The difference is in the amount of water used. The former is for urine (in Japanese, literally "small excretion") and the latter for feces ("large excretion"). Often, the lever is pushed to the "small" setting to provide a continuous masking noise for privacy, as discussed below. A combination squat/sitting toilet also exists, where a seat can be flipped down over a squat toilet, and the toilet can be used essentially the same way as the Western style. This hybrid seems to be common only in rural areas for the benefit of resident foreigners. Adapters that sit on top of the Japanese toilet to convert it to a functional sit down toilet are much more common. There are also permanently installed extensions available to convert a squat toilet into a sitting style washlet.

A flush toilet which has a pedestal for sitting is known in Japan as a Western style (洋式) toilet, more commonly known as the sitting toilet. Western style toilets, including high tech toilets, are now more common in Japanese homes than the traditional squat toilets, The Toto product Washlet Zoe is listed in Guinness World Records as the world's most sophisticated toilet, with seven functions. However, as the model was introduced in 1997, it is now likely to be inferior to the latest model by Toto, Neorest. with the introduction of the Washlet G Series by Toto, and since then the product name washlet has been used to refer to all types of Japanese high tech toilets. as of 2002, almost half of all private homes in Japan have such a toilet, exceeding the number of households with a personal computer. While the toilet looks like a Western style toilet at first glance, there are numerous additional features—such as blow dryer, seat heating, massage options, water jet adjustments, automatic lid opening, automatic flushing, wireless control panel, room heating and air conditioning for the room—included either as part of the toilet or in the seat. High end washlets allow selection of vibrating and pulsating jets of water, claimed by manufacturers
to be beneficial for constipation and hemorrhoids. Some models specially designed for the elderly may include armrests and devices that help the user to stand back up after use. A soft close feature slows the toilet lid down while closing so the lid does not slam onto the seat, or in some models, the toilet lid will close automatically a certain time after flushing. The most recent introduction is an ozone deodorant system that can quickly eliminate smells. Also, the latest models store the times of day when the toilet is used and have a power saving mode that warms the toilet seat only during times when the toilet is likely to be used based on historic usage patterns. Some toilets also glow in the dark or may even have air conditioning below the rim for hot summer days. Another recent innovation is intelligent sensors that detect someone standing in front of the toilet and initiate an automatic raising of the lid (if the person is facing away from the toilet) or the lid and seat together (if someone is facing the toilet). Still others will spray a small amount of mild detergent, this has the added benefit of breaking the surface tension of the water, preventing urine or solid waste from splashing during use. Some models will spray electrolyzed water after use to disinfect the bowl. Air ionizers are sometimes included with claims of microbe reduction when the lid is closed.

Text explaining the controls of these toilets tends to be in Japanese only. Although many of the buttons often have pictograms, the flush button is often written only in Kanji, meaning that non Japanese users may initially find it difficult to locate the correct button. In January 2017, The Japan Sanitary Equipment Industry Association, a consortium of companies producing plumbing products including Toto Ltd., Panasonic, and Toshiba, has agreed to unify the iconography used on the often baffling control panels for Japanese toilets. The toilet manufacturers plan to implement the eight new pictogram on models released from 2017 onward, with a view to the system becoming an international standard.

Recently, researchers have added medical sensors into these toilets, which can measure the blood sugar based on the urine, and also measure the pulse, blood pressure, and the body fat content of the user. If a Washlet high pressure water jet is used on the anus repeatedly, it may cause excessive cleanliness, prompting other bacteria to adhere around the anus, causing skin disease (inflammation) around the anus. Some proctologists in Japan have named this "Washlet Syndrome" (ウォシュレット症候群) or "Warm water toilet seat Syndrome" (温水便座症候群). There have been claims of benefit in preventing urinary tract infections and also concerns that washlet use can cause increased risk of urinary tract infection, aggravate vaginal flora when the bidet feature is used, and cause cross contamination from the wand or water tank, but the effects appear to be minimal and neither a substantial risk nor of measurable benefit for healthy adults.

Urinals in Japan are very similar to the urinals in the rest of the world, and mainly used for public male toilets or male toilets with a large number of users. Female urinals never caught on in Japan, although there were attempts made to popularize the American Sanistand female urinal by the Japanese toilet manufacturing company Toto between 1951 and 1968. This device was shaped like a cone and placed on the floor. However, those were never very popular, and only a few of them remain, including those underneath the now demolished National Olympic Stadium from the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which was added to accommodate people from a wide range of cultures. (see paruresis). To cover the sound of bodily functions, many women used to flush public toilets continuously while using them, wasting a large amount of water in the process.

In Japanese culture, there is a tendency to separate areas into "clean" and "unclean", and the contact between these areas is minimized. For example, the inside of the house is considered a clean area, whereas the outside of the house is considered unclean. To keep the two areas separated, shoes are taken off before entering the house so that the unclean shoes do not touch the "clean" area inside of the house. Historically, toilets were located outside of the house, and shoes were worn for a trip to the toilet. Nowadays, the toilet is almost always inside the home and hygienic conditions have improved significantly, but the toilet is still considered an "unclean" area. To further minimize contact between the "unclean" toilet floor and the "clean" floor in the rest of the house, many private homes and also some public toilets have toilet slippers (トイレスリッパ) in front of the toilet door that should be used when in the toilet and removed immediately after leaving the toilet.

Public toilets are usually readily available all over Japan, and can be found in department stores, supermarkets, book stores, CD shops, parks, most convenience stores, and in all but the most rural train stations. Some older public toilet buildings lack doors, meaning that men using the urinals are in full view of people walking past. Beginning in the 1990s, there has been a movement to make public toilets cleaner and more hospitable than they had been in the past. The number of public restrooms that have both Western and squat types of toilets is increasing. or towels for drying hands. Many people carry a handkerchief with them for such occasions, Shigeru Ban designed restrooms that are surrounded by transparent tinted glass, which allows a person to evaluate the interior before entering. In August 2020, these restrooms were installed in Haru no Ogawa Community Park and the Yoyogi Fukamachi Mini Park. Both the traditional squat toilet and the high tech toilet are a source of confusion for foreigners unaccustomed to these devices. There are humorous reports of individuals using a toilet, and randomly pressing buttons on the control panel either out of curiosity or in search for the flushing control, and suddenly to their horror receiving an unexpected jet of water directed at the genitals or anus. As the water jet continues for a few seconds after the novice jumps up, he also gets himself or the bathroom wet. Many Japanese toilets now feature pressure sensitive seats that automatically shut off the bidet when the user stands up. Many have the buttons labeled in English to reduce culture shock. In January 2017, the Japan Sanitary Equipment Industry Association agreed to standardize the iconography used on control panels of Japanese toilets, in an attempt to reduce confusion by foreign visitors.

The environmental impact of modern style washlets differs from regular flush toilets. Modern toilets use less water than old toilets, and the self cleaning options also reduce the amount of detergent. Some toilets even change the amount of water for the flush depending if the seat was flipped up (indicating male urination) or not. In rural areas, toilets that use very little or no water have also been designed.

Many toilets in Japan with a water tank include a built in sink. This is a simple water saving grey water system: clean municipal water is used to wash the hands, then the waste water from hand washing is used to fill the tank for flushing. It also is a space saving feature in small, older bathrooms.

Washlets in Japan cost from US$200, with the majority priced around US$500 for washlet upgrades for existing Western style toilets. Top of the range washlets, including the ceramic bowl, can cost up to US$5,000. Toto Ltd. is the largest producer of toilets, including washlets, worldwide. Washlets and other toilet related products are also produced by Inax, and Panasonic. The total market worldwide for high tech toilets was about US$800 million in 1997. The largest producer in this category is Toto, with 65% of the market share, while the second largest is Inax at 25%. indicating that these garbage dumps were also used as toilets. The earliest sewer systems are from the Yayoi period (300 BC to 250 AD). These systems were used in larger settlements, probably in combination with toilets. A possible ritual site, that may also have been a toilet using flowing water, dating back to the early 3rd century was found in Sakurai, Nara. In earlier days seaweed was used for cleaning, but by the Edo period, these had been replaced by toilet paper made of washi (traditional Japanese paper). In the mountainous regions, wooden scrapers—very important in a country where Buddhism and its associated mostly vegetarian, pescetarian lifestyle acted to reduce dependence on livestock for food. The waste products of rich people were sold at higher prices because their diet was better. Because of this history, Japan had a much higher historical standard of hygiene. For example, in Japan, the orderly disposal of human waste was a common component of the culture. The first Westerner to visit Edo expressed his shock to see such a clean city. During the Azuchi–Momoyama period (1568 to 1600), the "Taiko Sewerage" was built around Osaka Castle, and it still exists and functions today. The national Sewage Day is September 10. Western style toilets and urinals started to appear in Japan at the beginning of the 20th century, but only after World War II did their use become more widespread, due to the influence of the American occupation. In 1977, the sale of Western style toilets exceeded the sale of traditional squat toilets in Japan. Based on toilets with a built in bidet from Switzerland and the US, the world's largest sanitary equipment company, Toto, introduced the Washlet in 1980.