世論 What Japan Thinks

With the recent negative news breaking regarding TOTO toilets going up in smoke, let’s look at the more positive side of Japanese toilets through a survey published by goo Rankings on what function or service people are most happy to find in public restrooms. The survey was conducted between the 22nd and 24th of February 2007, but no more demographic information is available, although looking at the results it is perhaps a mainly female audience who completed the survey. Note that the score column has 100 points for the top vote getter, and for the other entries the score is the percentage of the top’s vote total that that entry received.

The first time I experienced the top ranking warm toilet seat it was a strangely disconcerting feeling, as to that point warmth was associated with someone else having recently used said loo, but now I love the feature, and my toilet at home also has a cloth cover for even more soothing comfort on the chilly nights.

Number four, also known in Japanese by the brand name “Oto Hime”, or “Sound Princess“, plays a wee tune to cover up the plops and splashes as one does one’s business. I saw my first only two weekends ago in a small cafè; I really wanted to press the button, but we were the only customers and the owner is a friend of my wife’s family, so I just couldn’t.

Ranking results

Q: What function or service are you most happy to find in public restrooms?

Rank	Function or service	Score
1	Heated seat	100
2	Clothes, luggage hook	73.2
3	Women’s sanitary items provided	67.7
4	“Oto Hime” music function	67.1
5	Automatic taps/faucets	58.4
6	Paper towels	56.3
7	Antiseptic spray for toilet seat	55.8
8	Bidet functionality in toilet	55.4
9	Toilet seat (means Western-style toilets)	52.6
10	Powder room	51.7
11	Full-length mirror	49.6
12	Air freshener spray	37.9
13	“Air duster” (Hair drier)	29.0
14	Ultra-violet hand disinfectant	29.0
15	Baby seat (in cubicle)	28.6
16	Baby chair (outside cubicle)	23.8
17	Changing room	23.8
18	Breath mints or gum	23.6
19	Stockings	21.4
20	Baby-feeding room	21.0