Dirty Dishes	Dirty Dishes Archive

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Thanks to the loyal reader who drew Dawn's attention to Wikipedia.org's extensive coverage of "Toilets in Japan." Dawn has long read that the Nipponese excelled in toilet technology, and this online encyclopedic entry confirms that when it comes to defecation comfort and sumptuous anal cleansing, Japan leads the world.

To trust Wikipedia, more than half of Japanese households have bidet-style toilets "commonly called 'Washlets'... designed to open the lid when they sense a user nearby, wash the anus or vulva of the user (including a number of pulsating and massaging functions), dry afterwards with warm air, flush automatically and close the lid after use." Wow. Options include an energy-saving seat warmer that computer tracks most-used toilet times and only warms the seat when an appreciative posterior is most likely to be descending, and an ozone-based deodorizer designed to mask the smell of sushi and udon noodles that have spent hours passing though the human digestive tract.

But not all high-tech toilet features are simply aesthetic or comfort-oriented; researchers have developed medical sensors "which can measure the blood sugar based on the urine, and also measure the pulse, blood pressure, and the body fat content of the user."

With so much data and biofeedback available from such bathroom marvels, Dawn wonders how long it will be before the Department of Homeland Security mandates their use in all patriotic American homes....