One of the most important things I appreciate when I go out that many might not is a good bathroom. Call it weird, quirky, dysfunctional...whatever, but you can tell a lot about a place by looking at their bathroom. For this reason alone, I loved being in Japan. No matter where I was, every bathroom I went to was absolutely spotless. This experience was almost liberating, because using a public restroom where I come from is usually a nightmare. I mean I really don't understand what people are thinking when they use a public restroom in the United States. Sometimes I think these people are one step away from taking their crap and smearing it all over the walls! I mean it looks like these women come in and think “Oh no it's so disgusting to sit on the seat, so I'm just going to pee all around the seat cover and leave my piss right there for the next person!” Yeah, that is far less disgusting (sarcasm).
In fact, I have a funny story that happened to me this weekend that highlights my point on this issue. I was at a local beer garden with some friends and was very impressed at how nice the place looked. They really did a good job sticking to the German Oktoberfest theme. Then I used their bathroom and my impression quickly changed. Besides the usual splatter of urine on the seat which I am now very use to, my bathroom came with a complimentary mug of beer left on top of the toilet. Then my friend goes into her stall and she sees a large stain of menstrual blood on the floor! I don't even know what kind of woman you have to be to have your blood running onto the floor and you just walk out without cleaning it up!
That's why when I think about the bathrooms in Japan, I can't help but feel wistful. Even the restroom in a 7 eleven was more clean than any restroom in a American public place. It has to do with the type of people who use the restrooms, and the type of workers who clean the restrooms. To me it looks like Japanese people just have more respect and dignity in this area.
Not only are their bathrooms spotless, but their toilets are surprisingly very high tech. The first time I came across their toilet, I was confused and awed. There were so many different buttons, what could they possibly do? A couple buttons make water shoot up your butt at different speeds, then another one dries it, others send out different pleasing smells, and the most useful one, a button that plays sounds so other people can't hear you pee. Yep, it's like they went out of their way to give you the best bathroom experience next to going in your own home.
The only time I was troubled when using their restrooms was when I came across their traditional toilets. The only places I came across these were at old places like shrines, and some modern places that gave you the option to use this toilet or the modern one. A traditional toilet is a toilet thats placed on the ground that's to be used as a squatting toilet. When I first saw it, I thought I had to sit on the toilet on the ground, and that would have been very uncomfortable. I couldn't use these types at all, I have horrible balance and just don't feel comfortable squatting.
Every now and then when I have to use a public restroom I sigh and think back to my fond memories of the cleanest bathrooms I ever used. One day I hope I'm using those bathrooms again.
