O toire wa doko des ka?

This post is all about toilets, so if you're not into toilet humor... you've been warned!

So, being an Interstitial Cystitis patient, I experienced quite a few toilets in Japan. I would say it's about 50/50 mix of Japanese and "Western-style" toilets.

I don't have any pictures, but I will link to a few by people I don't know.

This is a Japanese toilet. The first time I used one? On a train. Fortunately, there was a nice steel handle on the wall to stay steady. I came out just fine. Some people seemed weirded out by the "squat" toilets, but I never really had a problem. It actually seems a little less gross because you don't have to sit on anything. Then again, the floors aren't always clean around them, but that's why you take your shoes off before you go into your home!

Anyway, I quickly learned what the two Kanji on the flushers meant. The one on the left means "big" and the one on the right means "small". You get to choose how much water you need depending on how much of a mess you made. I also learned that this "Toto" company seems to have the monopoly on all things related to Japanese bathroom hardware like toilets, sinks, and showers.

Western-style toilets aren't exactly what we're used to either. They have a different shape and a heck of a lot of buttons. I played it safe and avoided the "butt shower" and "bidet" buttons and opted for the flush button exclusively. By the way, these toilets almost always have a heated seat! I didn't know such a thing existed until we went to Japan.

On both types of toilets, when in public, there is almost always a button or a sensor you can activate to play a fake flushing noise if you're bladder shy. I know many people in the US would kill for that little fake flusher. I never purposely employed it in Japan, but there were many times when it went off accidentally or I mistook it for the flush button. Each time made me laugh.

I think the best toilet was probably our host family's. They had it remodeled only days before our arrival, and our host mother decorated the toilet room so it was adorable! The light in the room automatically turned on when you walk in, and then the lid on the toilet opens automatically. It also flushes automatically if you don't press the button first. Pictures of it are here, at our host mom's blog! yopi's room: New toilet

At home (or at school), unlike in public, you don't leave your shoes on when you go to the toilet. You change into special toilet slippers. (more photos that don't belong to me!)

Interestingly, toilet paper is not a given in Japan. You must carry a pack of tissues with you at all times or you might get caught in an unpleasant situation. Soap is rarely available at sinks, either, unless you're in a nice department store or grocery store. We carried santizing wipes for this reason. There aren't paper towels to dry your hands *anywhere*, but there are hand dryers about 50% of the time, so we also carried handkerchiefs just in case. When we got back to the US, it was kind of a relief to find bathrooms stocked with all of those things we're used to! However, the Japanese way of stocking bathrooms may lead to less paper waste- but is it sanitary? It's interesting to look at the pros and cons of each system.

A phrase I came to know very well before even leaving for Japan is, "O toire wa doko des ka," meaning "Where is the toilet?" I used it a lot. Thankfully, there was never a situation where there was no toilet available. With my condition, it was a very fortunate thing. So if you have IC and you're planning a trip to Japan- fear not! Toilets are EVERYWHERE! Even on the train!

Safe Returns

We're leaving in about 42 hours! This week has flown by. We've spent a good amount of time studying Nihongo, particularly hiragana and sentence structure, as well as packing and finding last-minute items. My carry-on bag has my IC seat cushion, my mp3 player and headphones, a moleskine sketchbook and small lined notebook, pens, pencils, a bag of medications (by the way, the pyridium? FAIL!), camera, extra batteries, emergency numbers, passport, Japanese phrase book, hand sanitizer, and earplugs. LET'S DO THIS!
...oh, I'm also slipping in this little guy: a safe returns kaeru (frog). My friend Molly sent this to me awhile back. He usually rides in my car, but now he will be going with us to Japan for good luck. Well, here's hoping we can keep blogging once we're there!

Travel Meds

So we both had to go to the doctor for a checkup and possibly vaccines before our trip. Thankfully, neither of us needed to get any shots. What we did leave with was a bag full of medication. We were given the standard medication for travelers diarrhea (sounds pretty unpleasant... hope we won't be needing it). And then there's my stuff.



The big worry for me on this trip is Interstitial Cystitis, a painful bladder condition, now thought to be an auto-immune disease. The trouble comes when I eat or drink the wrong thing (mostly acidic things like citrus or tea) but also when I travel. It's something to do with bumps in the road, apparently. Either way, it's highly unpleasant, and we're going to be traveling a whole lot. I've never been on a train, so I have no idea how bumpy it will be. Yikes.

I was given a month's supply of the standard medication I take to treat this condition, but the doctor thought maybe we should try something else in addition. Something more short-term just for traveling. So I get to try this stuff that makes me pee... orange. How exciting. We'll see if it does anything; I'm testing it out by taking it and then eating something abrasive, like strawberries. I think next I'll try green tea. I miss it and this is an excellent excuse to have some.

On making this post: part of me thinks "talking about pee is TMI". The other part of me thinks having an invisible disability is really frustrating and spreading awareness of it is a good thing. It's also a pretty big obstacle for me and although I'm hoping it won't be as much trouble as I think it will, it could cause some troubles on this trip.