Toileting 101 in Japan

Friday,  June 14

This is an experience that really needs to be shared.  We had been forewarned that the Japanese people have different toileting skills than we are normally accustomed to here in America.  I was quite apprehensive about hearing that we may encounter a different style toilet, as well as no means of proper hand washing in the bathrooms .... oops - I mean restrooms.  You see, if you ask for a bathroom in Japan, they think that you are asking for a public bathing room and will look at you a little strangely if you make that mistake.  Luckily our first encounter in our hotel was a pretty normal looking western toilet, except that it was a bidet that will wash and dry your bum for you.  We also encountered some restrooms that actually had bidets that would make water noises when you sat down to cover any embarrassing noises you may not want anyone to hear - and, you could press a button to extend the noise for another 30 seconds if you needed it.  Well, on our trip this Friday, we encountered our first real look at a Japanese "toilet."  Upon seeing this, we were all quite astonished how you could make this work, but apparently they are quite adept at perfecting this toileting skill.   I think that the worst part of a lot of the restrooms in Japan was the port-a-john smell and the fact that while they may have a faucet and sink with running water, there was more often than not, no soap to wash your hands with.  

So here's a picture of the Japanese style toilets:

Yes, its basically just a porcelain hole in the floor!

(but notice they do give you a hand rail on the wall to hang on if needed)

So here's the best part:  this restroom had instructions on the wall!  Unfortunately, the picture didn't come out as great as I hoped, but I will write the instructions for you if you can't read them all.

First,  "Stand over the "bowel" Then, "Pull down your pants to ankle."  Next, "Squat down over the "bowel."  Do it!"  The instructions then just show a picture of wiping with toilet paper, and finally, "Toilet paper dissolves in water.  Please flush it after using."

This actually seemed to be a pretty universal instruction that I noticed in several other restrooms.  Luckily, just about everywhere we went, they had at least one "western" toilet for us tourists.  I will admit that I was not brave enough to try this one out!

A really cute thing happened on Monday following this encounter when we were at out first school.  Walking around the school we had the pleasure of going to different classes and observing work that students had completed.  When we got to the art classes, I noticed this specific piece of artwork:

Now, I'm not quite sure who this was written for, but it definitely was quite humorous.  You have to start reading this from the right side to the left, so: first, "Take down your pants and do it." Next, "Use the toilet paper" and "Put on your pants."  Finally, "Flush the toilet" and "Wash your hands."

So now you will be prepared with the Japanese toileting skills if you travel there.  Just bring plenty of hand sanitizer and wet wipes!

More sightseeing at Minoh Park and Waterfall

Friday, June 14

After surviving the walking and climbing steps in Nara and the temples, we arrived back in Osaka and decided to keep going by visiting Minoh Park.  It is only about a 30 minute train ride from our station, so we were ready to go again!  We didn't take into consideration that we would be walking along an approximately 3 km long path up another mountain.  It was definitely worth the hike!  The start of the walk is actually walking through the village on their street that is lined with small shops and eateries.  Most of these were closed by time we arrived and their main tourist time is apparently in the fall when the leaves are changing to all their beautiful colors.  There are Japanese Maples trees everywhere so you can imagine how beautiful it is in the Fall.  One very interesting traditional food at this location is tempura battered maple leaves.  I know it sounds weird and they are very different.  I did eat one whole leaf and it really didn't have much taste other than the slightly sweet tempura batter - it was just crunchy!  So that fulfilled my one strange Japanese food to taste for the day!  Anyway, the walk was relatively easy until you started to get closer to the top, but even then they have it done in such a way that you don't have to struggle for too long.  It seems to be a very popular place for local people to get their daily exercise routine done; we saw a ton of older people walking the path as well as a sports group running up and down the mountain.  It is an absolutely beautiful, calming, and peaceful walk.  The small little river from the waterfall runs along the path and there are various small drops that create more tiny waterfalls.  There are also a couple of temples along the route but I don't believe they are open to the public.  It was also much cooler under the canopy of trees than it was at the start, so we became much more comfortable as we walked.  When we finally reached the top, we were treated with the view of the waterfall - it's not a major waterfall, but still very pleasant to watch.  The park is also know for having wild monkeys, which Dr. Walker said he has never seen there.  But, we were graced with the presence of one monkey for a short time and it was cool to see a wild monkey that was in its natural habitat without being in a zoo.  My pictures of it didn't come out very good as he was up in a tree and not completely visible all the time.  Then it became time to take the walk back down the mountain before it got too dark.  The walk down was a lot easier and still very peaceful.

This is the equipment our shop used to fry the maple leaves.

You can have someone give you a ride up the mountain!

Along many different walkways, you will see these little mini worship places where
people have placed flowers, food, and other items

 

You can see the monkey's head at the top of this tree!