Electronic bidet

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Bidet-style toilet in Japan JapaneseToiletBidet.jpg
Bidet-style toilet in Japan

An electronic bidet is a seat attached to an existing toilet or a part of the toilet itself, with a nozzle to squirt a jet of warm water for cleaning the anus and female genitals, electrically powered and with electronic controls. It replaces the conventional bidet, a separate plumbing fixture not attached to a toilet. Some bidets of this type have one adjustable nozzle on the side rim for anus and genital areas, or two nozzles on the back rim, a shorter "family nozzle" for washing the area around the anus, and a longer "bidet nozzle" for women to wash their vulva. [1]

Contents

Features

The essential feature is the nozzle that comes out from underneath the toilet seat and squirts water. It typically has two settings: rear cleaning to wash the anus, and feminine cleaning to wash the vulva, which can be particularly useful during menstruation.

Functionality of a bidet which is not a stand-alone fixture:

Basic non-electronic
Electronic, basic functionality
Advanced features [4] not provided by all bidets

History

1960s: Early years

In the early 1960s, the father of Arnold Cohen of Brooklyn, New York, US had a medical condition that caused pain in the rectal area. Arnold designed a toilet seat bidet system, which featured a nozzle that sprayed warm water and blew hot air. In 1964, Arnold patented his design, founded the American Bidet Company, and started marketing the innovative bidet product, dubbed "American Sitzbath", by using large ads and attending trade shows. It was intended for use at hospitals by patients who had difficulty using toilet paper or reaching around to wipe themselves. Arnold installed thousands of these seats in the suburbs of New York, and the company had offices across the country. Due to cultural barriers, advertising was almost impossible; few wanted to run the ads that the company produced. [5]

Following the failure of the product in North America, Cohen licensed his invention and patent to the TOTO company in Japan. In 1967, TOTO imported Arnold's bidet system, now rebranded as 'Wash Air Seat' in Japan. The bidet system failed in Japan as well, because it was too expensive and the bidet function was too foreign for Japanese consumers. [6]

1980s: Introduction of the Washlet

In 1980, TOTO introduced the Washlet G, which debuted with three functions: rear cleansing, dryer, and a heated seat. [7] In 1982, the first Washlet television commercial aired, featuring the singer Jun Togawa telling viewers that 'even though it's a bottom, it wants to be washed too'. In another ad, she was shown standing on a fake buttock reading a letter supposedly from her bottom, which writes that 'even bottoms have feelings'. [8]

The Wash Air Seat and the early Washlet operated mechanically, and it took several minutes for the spray to start and for the water to heat. These problems were solved by implementing electronic operation. The Washlet's nozzle was made to extend and retract at an angle of 43 degrees, which prevented any used cleansing water from falling back onto the nozzle ("backwash").

Two TOTO engineers, Mr. Kawakami and Mr. Ito calculated the average location of the human anus with the aid of 300 colleagues who were persuaded to sit on a toilet in private and to mark the positions of their anuses by fixing a small piece of a paper to a wire strung across the seat. The average location of the female vulva was measured in a strip club. [8] In 1987, TOTO launched the first integrated Washlet.

From the 1990s: Widespread adoption

In 1992, TOTO launched the Neorest, a tank-less toilet with an integrated Washlet. Other manufacturers started producing electronic bidets, without the trademarked term "washlet". Following a toilet-paper shortage arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Australian Consumers Association published a discussion of the merits of bidets and "smart toilets", including a wide range of detachable bidet seats. [9]

Safety

Following the 2024 CrowdStrike incident, a widely viral post on Japanese social media site Misskey stated: "強制再起動で尻の穴壊されかけました" [10] , meaning roughly "Forced reboot almost destroyed my asshole". The accompanying pictures showed the bidet displaying a Microsoft Windows blue screen of death that the user then force-rebooted.

Electronic bidets have been featured in the Simpsons and Futurama as "Japanese Toilets". [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

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A bathroom is a room in which people wash their bodies or parts thereof. It can contain one or more of the following plumbing fixtures: a shower, a bathtub, a bidet, and a sink. The inclusion of a toilet is common. There are also specific toilet rooms, only containing a toilet, which in North American English tend to be called "bathrooms", "powder rooms" or "washrooms", as euphemisms to conceal their actual purpose, while they in British and Irish English are known as just "toilets" or possibly "cloakrooms" - but also as "lavatories" when they are public.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bidet</span> Plumbing fixture or type of sink intended for washing the genitalia and anus of the human body

A bidet is a bowl or receptacle designed to be sat upon in order to wash a person's genitalia, perineum, inner buttocks, and anus. The modern variety has a plumbed-in water supply and a drainage opening, and is thus a plumbing fixture subject to local hygiene regulations. The bidet is designed to promote personal hygiene and is used after defecation, and before and after sexual intercourse. It can also be used to wash feet, with or without filling it up with water. Some people even use bidets to bathe babies or pets. In several European countries, a bidet is now required by law to be present in every bathroom containing a toilet bowl. It was originally located in the bedroom, near the chamber-pot and the marital bed, but in modern times is located near the toilet bowl in the bathroom. Fixtures that combine a toilet seat with a washing facility include the electronic bidet.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toilets in Japan</span>

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Washlet is a Japanese line of cleansing toilet seats manufactured and sold by the company Toto. The electronic bidet features a water spray element for genital and anal cleansing. and commonly appears on toilets all over Japan. The device was released in June 1980 and as of January 2022, Toto has sold more than 60 million units.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toto Ltd.</span> Japanese plumbing fixtures company

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References

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  2. "Die Sauberkeit des Dusch-WCs" (in German). 4 May 2022.
  3. Department of Infection Control Science (22 April 2021). "Decontamination effect of neutral electrolysed water". Infection Prevention in Practice. 3 (2): 100143. doi:10.1016/j.infpip.2021.100143. PMC   8336319 . PMID   34368750.
  4. Amanda Sealy (10 December 2018). "How Japan's music playing, water-spraying TOTO toilets took over the world". CNN Style. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  5. "Arnold Cohen, Bidet King Extraordinaire – Bidet.org". www.bidet.org.
  6. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-12-01. Retrieved 2016-11-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. "How it works". 4 May 2022.
  8. 1 2 George, Rose (30 August 2008). "Japan's hi-tech toilets" via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  9. Should you buy a bidet?. CHOICE, 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2023
  10. 強制再起動で尻の穴壊されかけました
  11. "Japanese toilet". 4 May 2022.