The Cult of the Toto Toilet | Hacker News Reader

The Cult of the Toto Toilet

nytimes.com

63 pointsThevet42 comments

For those who don't want to spend $2,000 on a toilet, there are relatively cheap attachments that are a good 80% solution, especially if you are renting.

However, when I own a house, I'm getting one.

I got a bidet seat (Bio) from Costco, really great, only $349; very easy to install. can't live without it.

Yes, you can buy the washlet separately from Toto or a competitor ($300-$1000). There are also very simple ones that can be bought for under $100.

If the first option is a $2,000 toilet, I'll take #2.

Previous, memorable bidet discussion on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9560985

> The feeling of having a genuinely clean butt gives you the confidence you need to go crush it in the boardroom.

Memorable indeed.

Bidets? No thanks. Heated seats? Don't need 'em. I think the smartest element on Japanese toilets is that some of them have a little faucet and sink on the lid of the tank; the water that fills the tank actually goes through that faucet first, then drains through the tank lid into the tank, so you can just wash your hands in that water rather than turning on the separate sink. An easy way to save water!

Granted, that water is damn cold in the winter…

So I'm in the process of remodeling a bathroom and spent a bit of time at a toilet/tub place recently. Went into it feeling the same way you did, however while I was there, recently after lunch, patiently following my wife around I did have the chance to use their restroom with one of these fancy toilets installed.

From that visit I have come to the conclusion that we currently live like savages compared to the Japanese.

> Bidets? No thanks.

Why not?

A fear of the unknown, I guess. Even in all the time I spent in Japan, I never tried one. I just… don't want that sensation.

I like the Japanese style toilet but the timing of this article seems particularly like sponsored content.

Does NY times have a policy of disclosure?

If it's an ad, it's a good one. Bidets are just better, and I wish people would take them seriously.

No, there's really a cult following. The moment I buy my own place I'll be installing one of these. There's nothing better.

It's difficult to install a separate bidet - need a bathroom with lots of extra space, then run new plumbing... Even then, you're using two stations when one will suffice.

> the timing of this article seems particularly like sponsored content

http://paulgraham.com/submarine.html

Just to re-iterate the value of your insightful comment, it seems likely the "sponsorship" is a combination of lazy journalism and talented PR firms.

A.K.A. How media works.

Oh my god! He can recognize them! :)

I hope this is not a PR piece. But if it is, then it works really well because the first thing I did after reading was to look up the prices of the Toto washlets one more time.

Jimmy?

Similar laudatory piece, from Slate about 18 months ago: http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2014/04/...

Contrary to a popular belief, excessive use of washlet is actually bad for a certain type of hemorrhoids. I've been always creeped out with the washlets and warm seats since the day it's introduced (like three decades ago).

My mother is cultish about Toto toilets. The sad truth is that it rubbed off on my wife and me and we're replacing the toilets in our house with them. Not fancy ones, mind you -- just the base model efficient flush ones. The swirly flush design in the bowl is awesome.

Toto used to be one of the few brands which figured out how to make low-flow toilets which didn't easily clog and which didn't require high pressure (which is noisy). They just have a large diameter flapper.

American Standard now has this technology (but they use two standard sized flappers instead of one large one)- they call it "VorMax". I have one of each- the American Standard has a rimless bowel and is easier to clean.

Excuse me for the intimacy, but it is a cultural question. Doesn't americans usually use water the clean their butts?

Nope. We use rather expensive toilet paper advertised by cartoon bears.

And puppies. Golden retriever puppies.

I've known a few who said they used wet wipes (paper towels treated with some cleaning stuff and packaged to stay moist), which is almost like using water.

I am a cult member too but even more than this article says: I was on a client onsite in London four years ago and, well, the day was not going well and Googled, just out of sheer desperation "travel washlet" and lo, Toto makes one of those too! That's an excellent introduction into the cult for only 60 or so dollars (hint: B005FDJ8SM). It's portable civilization. I never leave home without one, now.

I just turn the hot water on in the sink next to me, wet and warm up my hand, and get to work. Way better than TP.

This looks like an opportunity for a hardware startup.

There's a nascent market that is just waiting the right branding/positioning to land.

Just returned from Indonesia where this is pretty standard in hotels, and where I saw the light. I cannot believe I spent the first 38 years of my life without using water to wash my behind after I poop. When I buy my own place it must have a Toto washlet. Normal toilet seats just seem uncivilised now.

It seems it's a "sponsored content" for the company making those toilet seats.

Toilets and bidets are two separate items, I don't believe an automated thingy will ever provide the same hygiene levels. Plus, bidets have many other use cases not mentioned.

You'd be surprised. These are extremely efficient - the bidet parts are mechanized so it works great (go Japan!). After using one of these once, you feel like a barbarian using any standard toilet.

The washlet seats can be purchased to fit on any standard or elongated seat toilet. Some of them look more like they belong in a convalescence home, but that's another matter.

> Plus, bidets have many other use cases not mentioned.

Drinking fountains?

I'm genuinely curious what the uses cases poster uses a bidet for, aside from washing their genitals. It seems like a great thing to have and I definitely want one, but its not a particularly glamorous device.

Properly wash genitals after intercourse for example, which requires hands and the right soap since the skin down there has a different pH. Washing feet before going to bed anyone?

You don't believe but you give no reasoning for this "belief". Actually Bidet Toilet Seats are nice for sure but they are expensive; to buy, install and maintain. A much lower cost alternative is the Hand Bidet Sprayer. It requires no new plumbing and actually does a better job cleaning you. If you've never tried both of these the Hand Bidet Sprayer provides a much stronger water flow and more control of where it sprays than the fixed "spray wand" in the bidet toilet seat which is more like a weak water fountain. You can also use the Hand Bidet Sprayer to spray water up inside to help with constipation and hemorrhoids. See bathroomsprayers.com.

Proud member of the cult of toto. Joined in Taiwan in 1998.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNQYj5VyjeM

nytimes website is so annoying to use on an iPad. Zoom is disabled and double tap changes font size, WTF?

It works excellent with readers view, at least.

Heh. A company whose motto is "all the news that's fit to print," whose entire purpose is to provide people with reading material, deliberately breaks its own website so much that other people have to develop software to make it readable again.

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