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]

Electronic bidets have been featured in the Simpsons and Futurama as "Japanese Toilets". [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washing</span> Method of cleaning

Washing is a method of cleaning, usually with water and soap or detergent. Washing and then rinsing both body and clothing is an essential part of good hygiene and health.

<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 one'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. 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toilet seat</span> Hinged attachment to toilet bowl, round and open

A toilet seat is a hinged unit consisting of a round or oval open seat, and usually a lid, which is bolted onto the bowl of a toilet used in a sitting position. The seat can be either for a flush toilet or a dry toilet. A toilet seat consists of the seat itself, which may be contoured for the user to sit on, and the lid, which covers the toilet when it is not in use – the lid may be absent in some cases, particularly in public restrooms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shower</span> Place in which a person bathes under a spray of water

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squat toilet</span> Toilet used by squatting

A squat toilet is a toilet used by squatting, rather than sitting. This means that the posture for defecation and for female urination is to place one foot on each side of the toilet drain or hole and to squat over it. There are several types of squat toilets, but they all consist essentially of a toilet pan or bowl at floor level. Such a toilet pan is also called a "squatting pan". A squat toilet may use a water seal and therefore be a flush toilet, or it can be without a water seal and therefore be a dry toilet. The term "squat" refers only to the expected defecation posture and not any other aspects of toilet technology, such as whether it is water flushed or not.

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

Toilets in Japan are sometimes designed more elaborately than toilets commonly seen in other developed nations. European toilets occasionally have a separate bidet whilst Japan combines an electronic bidet with the toilet. The current state of the art for Western-style toilets in Japan is the bidet toilet, which as of March 2016 is installed in 81% of Japanese households. In Japan, these bidets are commonly called washlets, a brand name of Toto Ltd., and they may include many advanced features rarely seen outside of Asia. The basic feature set commonly found on washlets consists of anal hygiene, bidet washing, seat warming, and deodorization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washlet</span> Toilet by the Japanese company Toto

Washlet is a line of cleansing toilet seats manufactured and sold by the Japanese company Toto. They feature water spray features for genital and anal cleansing. The electronic bidet is commonplace on toilets in Japan. Released in June 1980, more than 30 million Washlets had been sold as of January 2011.

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

Toto Ltd., formerly known as Tōyō Tōki, and Tōtō Kiki, is a Japanese multinational toilet manufacturer which is known for manufacturing the Washlet. TOTO was founded in 1917. The company is based in Kitakyushu, Japan, and owns production facilities in nine countries.

Vulvitis is inflammation of the vulva, the external female mammalian genitalia that include the labia majora, labia minora, clitoris, and introitus. It may co-occur as vulvovaginitis with vaginitis, inflammation of the vagina, and may have infectious or non-infectious causes. The warm and moist conditions of the vulva make it easily affected. Vulvitis is prone to occur in any female especially those who have certain sensitivities, infections, allergies, or diseases that make them likely to have vulvitis. Postmenopausal women and prepubescent girls are more prone to be affected by it, as compared to women in their menstruation period. It is so because they have low estrogen levels which makes their vulvar tissue thin and dry. Women having diabetes are also prone to be affected by vulvitis due to the high sugar content in their cells, increasing their vulnerability. Vulvitis is not a disease, it is just an inflammation caused by an infection, allergy or injury. Vulvitis may also be symptom of any sexually transmitted disease or a fungal infection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pressure washing</span> Use of high-pressure water jet for cleaning hard surfaces

Pressure washing or power washing is the use of high-pressure water spray to remove loose paint, mold, grime, dust, mud, and dirt from surfaces and objects such as buildings, vehicles and concrete surfaces. The volume of a mechanical pressure washer is expressed in gallons or liters per minute, often designed into the pump and not variable. The pressure, expressed in pounds per square inch, pascals, or bar, is designed into the pump but can be varied by adjusting the unloader valve or using specialized nozzle tips. Machines that produce pressures from 750 to 30,000 psi or more are available.

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A sitz bath or hip bath is a bath in which a person sits in water up to the hips. It is used to relieve discomfort and pain in the lower part of the body, for example, due to hemorrhoids (piles), anal fissures, perianal fistulas, rectal surgery, an episiotomy, uterine cramps, inflammatory bowel disease, pilonidal cysts and infections of the bladder, prostate or vagina. It works by keeping the affected area clean and increasing the flow of blood to it.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toilet</span> Piece of hardware for the collection or disposal of human excreta

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bidet shower</span> Hand-held triggered nozzle

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tabo (hygiene)</span> Traditional cleaning tool in the Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia, East Timor, Malaysia, and Brunei

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References

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  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. "Japanese toilet". 4 May 2022.