Japanese Toilet  -- (This is from an e-mail that my good friend Bruce Kay sent out last year.  I quite enjoyed it.)

During our vacation to Japan we came across a most unusual toilet - and I'm not referring to the squatting type which was prevalent in China.  When we arrived at our hotel room in Tokyo and went into the bathroom we found a toilet that had several buttons on the side.  There was a button with an icon of a "tush" being sprayed by water.  I was the first to try the toilet.  The seat was deliciously warm and a small suction fan (a fart extractor!) turned on when I sat down.  When I pushed the tush button, a pulsating spray of deliciously warm water cleaned my ass!  I couldn't help smiling during the experience - it felt pretty strange and well, nice!  Hardly needed to wipe!  

Ev tried the toilet next.  All I could hear was giggling coming from the bathroom - in fact, Evelyn spent a lot of time in that bathroom, constantly giggling.  There also was a button to clean a female's privates (maybe that's why she was giggling) and one to adjust the water pressure. 

Ev, who is not into gadgets and doesn't spend money on such things as I do, liked the toilet so much that she said she'd be willing to spend $1000 for it - honest!  Well, now I was on a mission. I had to have one of these for our home. The one in our hotel bathroom was made by a company called Toto.

After a couple of unsuccessful attempts to buy a toilet in Asia that would work in the US,  I eventually found  that they were just being made available by Toto USA for the American market.  I immediately ordered one.  

Installation was relatively straightforward and all I can say is that the toilet has totally met our expectations.  We spend a lot more time on the seat, but use a lot less toilet paper.  We also have the cleanest asses in town - guaranteed!  Evelyn still giggles on occasion. 

It's also economical.  I figure if I save one double roll of toilet paper a week (conservative estimate), figuring in the cost of electricity (average 37 watts per hour) and the cost of the unit, I'll break even in about 16 years.

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