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!

Differences

When Jorie and I had our first day out and about in Marquette after returning home from Japan, we had a bit of reverse-culture-shock. In Japan, we never really felt shocked or homesick at all, but upon returning home, we definitely felt a little strange.



The roads seemed very wide. Everything here seemed way too far apart. Useless, water-wasting lawns sprawled everywhere, trimmed neatly for no apparent reason other than cultural tradition. Space in Japan is used very wisely, and for good reason. But one can't help but admire the way the space is used, no matter the reason. There are no useless lawns, but instead every home has a garden, whether it's a good size or a tiny one. Even homes along the streets have many potted plants out front. If there is grass or a field, wild plants are allowed to grow. If there is a large space not being used in town, it becomes a vegetable garden or a rice paddy. It does make one think about how we do things like this in America. We have strange zoning laws that prevent that kind of integration. Lawns, both at businesses and at homes, are really quite strange and quite demanding when you think about it. They require fuel and time for cutting, they require far more water to stay green than native plants, and people often cover them with poison to control "weeds" and insects. It's rare to see this phenomena in Japan, at least where we were.



Transportation! Cars in Japan are small to match the narrow roads. It seems to work fine, even when our host mother had to fit Jorie and I, along with our matching suitcases and carry-on bags into the car. Sometimes the old roads are a little too narrow though, and people must pull over so the other car can get by. Bicycles are used a lot more, as well as people's own two feet. We walked a lot in Japan, and we noticed a lot of bicycles, too. In places where it's feasible to walk or bike to their destination, that's what they do. We decided to walk a little more in Marquette, and today we did all our errands on foot for a change. It was actually quite nice.



There are also buses and trains everywhere in Japan. They are seldom late. Public transit does not go to waste by any means. When we came home, Jorie and I were discussing how useful trains would be in Michigan. A bullet train in lower Michigan sure would be nice! Buses aren't a common thing in this part of Michigan, but we're hoping we can utilize them once we move downstate.

The Japanese take good care of their skin. On bright, sunny days, people wear clothing that is light and thin, but covers their skin. They also tend to carry umbrellas and wear hats. Our host mother mentioned traveling in America and having an umbrella to block the sun, only to feel out of place since no one else was using one. It makes sense, but we explained that people would stare or laugh at you here if you used an umbrella because it's not common. Jorie and I wonder if the difference is that people in America always want to get a tan.


This photo of some ladies shopping for grilled takenoko was taken on an incredibly hot, sunny day, yet they are covered head to toe. I tried wearing my hooded jacket that day and it wasn't as bad as I expected. I'm glad I did because everything that wasn't covered was horribly sunburned- especially my poor nose.

Other random things we noticed on our first day or so back is how simple our own English letters looked. We could read the signs and the packaging on items in the store! It seemed like magic after weeks of being confronted with complex kanji characters we had no hope of reading. We didn't greet people as much. When we arrived in the Minneapolis airport, one of the first things we saw after customs was people being driven around on small vehicles inside the airport instead of walking. There aren't vending machines in strange places here, and certainly not with the frequency in which we saw them in Japan.

Also, the only Japanese restaurant in town (the one on campus) was serving rice that didn't quite taste Japanese. The miso soup had a little too much miso, and the inari sushi's aburaage pouch seemed to be fried in a little too much mirin and not enough soy sauce. I guess we're connoisseurs now. We eagerly await our vegan Japanese cook book in the mail.

Dietary Dos and Don'ts

So being vegan in Japan will be interesting. Jorie and I figure we can manage pretty well while we're staying at JCMU, but eating at restaurants and a week's worth of homestay will be another question. One of our biggest concerns is offending others or being an inconvenience, yet we don't want to compromise our morals, either.

We have decided to let one thing slide when other options are not available: fish stock. It's used in soups and other dishes and is quite common. It would be, probably, the hardest thing to avoid.

Other than that, we made it clear on our homestay sheets what our dietary restrictions are, and we were told to be sure we clarify for our host families when we are able. The main objectives are to be polite, apologetic, and thankful, no matter what. If we have to discreetly pick some meat out of a dish, so be it.

I'm excited to try new things, and I have experienced a few already thanks to my friend Molly. At home, Jorie and I sometimes make zaru soba with home-made vegan tsuyu sauce, as well as veggie sushi and miso soup made from kombu broth. Lovely photos are by Jorie.