John's trip to Kitakyushu, Japan -- October 2008

A few weeks ago I traveled to Japan to give one of the keynote talks at the International Conference on Formal Engineering Methods. This was my first trip to Japan, and I found it very interesting.

The travel to/from Japan was quite tiring (my return trip involved 24 hours of travel). On the trip over, I made the mistake of eating the cheese pizza on the plane, and I ended up with a lot of stomach trouble. Due to this problem, I got very familiar with Japanese public restrooms (fortunately, I had long enough layovers between my flights so that I could recover).

The restroom in the Tokyo Narita airport had some interesting features so I decided to take some pictures. While some readers of this blog make think the topic of Japanese bathroom fixtures to be "odd", just think of it as commentary on one particular aspect of Japanese culture.

This is a squat toilet which is still popular in Japan and many areas in Asia. The basic idea is to squat down and do your thing. The problem is, that unless you are expert, its hard to do this cleanly unless you take your pants, etc. off.



Here's some helpful perspective on squat toilets from Wikipedia -- One advantage of squat toilets is that they are very easy to clean. They are also cheaper to make, they consume less water per flush than western toilets, and, due to the lack of direct contact with In addition, a number of medical benefits are attributed to the squat toilet. It has been suggested that the squatting strengthens the pelvic muscles of females, reducing the likelihood of incontinence. Furthermore, it is said that this toilet builds up strength in the hips, and improves breathing and concentration.

I did not bother to try the squat toilet -- it looked like it would be very tiring unless you could conclude your business quickly. I've encountered some bath rooms in train stations in Italy that had only squat toilets. Fortunately, I never really been forced to use one.

Next, here's a urinal for handicapped people -- which I had never seen before.


Here's something thoughtful that all of us that have traveled with small children could appreciate -- it's a toilet stall with a child seat bolted to the wall so that you can immobilize the child while you take care of business.


Even though Japanese are famous for their high-tech toilets, I was surprised to find this one in the airport restroom. Toilets like this (if purchased in the US) cost at least $650.

This toilet has a special toilet seat that provides a bidet and air-dry feature. About 50% of Japanese homes have toilets like this. Here's a quick summary of the functionality: after you have sat on the seat and done your thing, there is a little knob on the side that you turn to activate a stream of water that shoots out from under the toilet seat. A second knob controls the temperature of the water. The stream of water has two different settings that slightly alter the position of the stream: one for washing the rear end, and another for a bidet-like feature for women. Finally, there is also an air-dry that dries you off after the wash, and in many models, the seat is heated to warm your tush on those cold nights.

Here are the instructions for the toilet posted on the wall of the stall.

I found the instructions a bit overwhelming so I didn't bother trying it. Also, I wasn't quite sure of the "sanitary conditions" of such a toilet in a public restroom.

Fortunately, I did have a toilet like this in my hotel restroom. I have to say, I actually found it very refreshing. I'd consider getting one for our upcoming bathroom remodel, but I can't convince myself to pay $500 for a toilet seat -- no matter how good it makes me feel. Here are the rather brief instructions for the toilet in my hotel room.

The icon on the left looked a little more like my anatomy :-), so I used that setting most of the time. I did try the "female" setting on the right (with the pink girl icon) as well, but I really couldn't tell much difference in the positioning or pulsing of the water stream.

These toilet seats are sold by the company Toto in the US under the name washlet. You can read more about the features of the toilet at the Toto Washlet website.
Here's
the wikipedia entry that gives a great survey of Japanese toilets and associated cultural issues.

The last restroom fixture in my report is the hand-dryer.

To work this thing, you just put your hand down into the bowl, and a very strong air stream blows on your hands while a collection of blue lights flash. I guess the blue flashing lights are just to make you feel good by conveying some notion of abstract purity.

After flying on three different planes for about 17 hours, I had to take a taxi to the train station, and then take one of the Japanese bullet trains (called "shinkansen") to the city where the conference was held.

Here's a picture in the train station. The train station has something
called an "Excellent Room" which I found intriguing.

I think the Excellent Room is something analogous to an airport lounge for frequent flyers. Here's a picture of my train arriving.

These trains can reach speeds of 188 mph.

The Kitakyushu area is the part of Japan that is closest to China and Korea -- and has historically served as one the main entry points into Japan. This area is not very picturesque compared to other areas in Japan, and didn't have a lot of tourist attractions. Here's a picture from my hotel window.


Here's a picture of during one of the conference talks.


The lunches for the conference were advertised as a "box lunch" -- these were the nicest box lunches that I have had.


On the last day of the conference, we had some time to do some sight-seeing. Here's a fabulous shot of me.


We went to a museum that had some nice models of the city as it appeared 150-200 years ago. Here are some shots of the museum and exhibits.





Here are some pictures of a small Japanese garden and traditional Japanese house on the grounds on the musuem.




That evening, someone recommended what they claimed was the "Number 2 best noodle restaurant in Japan". We found the place which only had three tables, and were a bit skeptical. However, after being served with huge bowls of wonderful noodles, vegatables, and pork -- I have to say that it was very good!



Here's a link to the picture album for the trip.

2008-10-Japan