世論 What Japan Thinks

It’s a while since we’ve visited the toilet with iShare, so I was curious to see this latest investigation by them into the gents.

Demographics

Between the 20th and 23rd of April 2010 529 male members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 28.5% of the sample were in their twenties, 32.7% in their thirties, and 38.8% in their forties.

Although I’m well house-trained, I always stand in public toilets. I steer clear of Japanese-style trenches, though, as I’ve been scarred by the one time I had to use them when I had a bit of the runs, and I managed to get poo on my trousers…

Note that apparently at schools, entering a cubicle will often get you seriously teased (if television programs are to be believed), causing problems with constipation in schoolkids, and perhaps both the teasing and the constipation continue to be problems in later life?

Research results

Q1: When peeing at a western-style toilet, do you sit or stand? (Sample size=529)

	All	Twenties N=151	Thirties N=173	Forties N=205
Stand	64.7%	63.6%	56.6%	69.8%
Sit	36.3%	36.4%	43.4%	30.2%

Q2: When peeing at a Japanese-style toilet, do you squat or stand? (Sample size=529)

	All	Twenties N=151	Thirties N=173	Forties N=205
Stand	80.5%	74.8%	76.3%	88.3%
Squat	19.5%	25.2%	23.7%	11.7%

Q3: Do you think there should always be cubicles for urinals? (Sample size=529)

	All	Twenties N=151	Thirties N=173	Forties N=205
All cubicles is better	11.3%	13.2%	9.2%	11.7%
No cubicles is fine	88.7%	86.8%	90.8%	88.3%

Those who sit or squat were about twice as much in favour of cubicles for urinals.

The reasons given for wanting all cubicles included being able to relax inside, no cubicles were embarrassing, not liking people standing beside them, and it being awkward when carrying bags, etc. For those who prefered the status quo, reasons included not being bothered by other people, since urinals take up little space people get it over and done with quickly, cubicles would cause queues like one sees in ladies’ loos, and cubicles for urinals would decrease the overall number of urinals.

Q4: Do you think both urnials and toilets (either western or Japanese) are needed in public toilets? (Sample size=529)

	All	Twenties N=151	Thirties N=173	Forties N=205
Both needed	80.2%	76.2%	80.9%	82.4%
Just toilets	19.8%	23.8%	19.1%	17.6%

Almost 50% more sitters or squatters were keen on getting rid of urinals.

Finally, there was a list of what guys hate about public toilet urinals. These included getting pee on one’s shoes, bags or clothes touching the porcelain, other people peeking at one’s peeing, and female cleaning staff coming round while doing the business were common answers. Other events included getting splashed by one’s neighbour’s pee and having a small kid staring then running away laughing his head off.

When having a poo, common hated events were dirty toilet seats, the last person not having flushed, and running out of bog roll. Other compaints included someone not knocking but instead fiddling with the knob, someone knocking too much and putting one off one’s poo, long queues, and being teased when in elementary or middle school.