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Japan To End Tourists' Toilet Trouble With Standardised Buttons (theguardian.com)

The Japan Sanitary Equipment Industry Association, a consortium of companies producing plumbing products has agreed to unify the iconography used on the often baffling control panels for Japanese toilets. From a report on The Guardian: Navigating the array of buttons on Japan's high-tech toilets can be a disconcerting experience for the uninitiated, who, expecting to hear a familiar flushing sound, are instead subjected to a sudden, and unwanted, cleansing of the nether regions. As Japan prepares for an influx of overseas visitors during the 2019 rugby World Cup and the Tokyo Olympics the following year, the country's sanitation industry has agreed to standardize pictograms on toilets so users know for certain if they are about to receive a blast of warm air or a jet of water. Nine manufacturers belonging to the Japan sanitary equipment industry association will soon start using the same eight symbols to explain the buttons found on their state-of-the-art WCs. At a launch event this week, the firms said they had agreed to simplify the pictography in response to complaints from tourists that they are confused by symbols that differ depending on the make of toilet. In a survey of 600 foreign visitors, a quarter said they could not understand some of the symbols that appear on the toilet buttons.

9 of 187 comments (clear)

  1. Alternate implementation by jmcwork · · Score: 5, Funny

    Replace the buttons with 3 sea shells.

  2. Share and Enjoy! by Thud457 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Jesus Christ, that thing's more complicated than the Moon Lander!

    And if you get it wrong, it pisses right back at you!

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

    1. Re:Share and Enjoy! by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Funny

      Jesus Christ, that thing's more complicated than the Moon Lander!

      Actually, it is a "moon" lander.

    2. Re:Share and Enjoy! by jimbob6 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Don't accidently hit the "tampon remove" button.

    3. Re:Share and Enjoy! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      "He doesn't know how to use the three seashells!"

  3. Re:Eight function toilet? by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 5, Funny

    5) morph into land, sea, or air vehicle
    6) join with four other vehicles to create a larger machine
    7) join your larger machine to two others the create the Might Flushtron
    8) intimate function to assure very satisfactory toilet experience...
    please remain seated

    --
    You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
  4. Re:Eight function toilet? by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Google has these fancy toilets when I worked IT help desk ten years ago. On several occasions I had the double shock of my balls touching the ice cold water in the bowl and my ass catching on fire on the toilet seat at the same time.

  5. Happy Poopy Time by necro81 · · Score: 3, Funny
  6. Re:Eight function toilet? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Because I don't use my butt for typing, shaking hands, conveying food to my mouth, scratching..."

    Apparently I'm doing it wrong.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC