Toilets and Masks

Looking at the picture, you may think this was taken during a SAR outbreak. You'd be wrong. Japanese people LOVE their surgical masks. This comes from a culture that's very concerned with public health, and so as not to contaminate others with their filthy germs (how rude!) they wear masks. I ended up buying some to wear because I could feel the evil eye penetrating me with every cough and sniffle I made maskless.

The brand I purchased is the "family mask" (ファミリー マスク) in the slightly small size ("やや小さぬサイズ") -- I'm guessing that means "medium". There is an entire section dedicated to masks and among this brand, if you're the dad or the kid there's one for you too!

As an aside, the Japanese written language has three forms: Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji. Kanji is the like Chinese writing and represents more of an idea, while hiragana and katakana are phonetical. Katakana is used for foreign words, so you can actually tell what the word is just by sounding it out! Don't believe me? Try it:

サイズ -- pronounced Sa-i-zu (pronounciation guide here). Say it aloud and I think you'll guess that it's the word for "size", and you would be right!

マスク - pronounced ma-su-ku (don't pronounce the "u" after the "s".

Now you know Japanese... ha.

On to the toilets! You will find an interesting sight when using the toilet...

Let's take a closer look at those buttons on the side there, shall we?

I think they speak for themselves, but you can get yourself washed and everything. I think my favorite part is the "flushing sound" - you press it and it plays a sound of a flushing toilet. I guess the Japanese women, in an effort to conceal their unfeminine plopping/tinkling sounds, would repeatedly flush the toilet. In an effort to save water, the toilet makers of Japan created this button! What heroes! I've included the photo of their description in English.

But there is still YET ANOTHER toilet you can find in Japan!

Yes, that is a toilet meant for females. It's considered more sanitary because no body part has to touch the toilet (Japanese people are very interested in cleanliness), so you just squat to pee while facing the wall. So while you're peeing you can also get in a good quad workout!