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.

Comments

Re:More Space Please

[AmiMoJo]

Even with unlimited space it makes sense. No need to get up, pants around your ankles, and shuffle over to the bidet. When you are finished washing and the drier has done most of the work, you will probably want toilet paper unless you have a butt towel, and the toilet is the ideal place to dispose of it.

Also you don't need a second heated seat for the separate bidet, and it's one less thing to clean.

Oh yes, Japanese toilets are self cleaning.