While the rest of the world seems to be content with merely making sure that they are able to flush properly, the Japanese have been busy bringing the lowly toilet forward a century. Yet, somehow many remain unaware of this invention. Though we lap up Japanese cameras, cars and Walkmans, few outside the land of the Rising Sun have even heard of these ingenious products let alone covet them.
What’s even stranger is that the Japanese are so very proud of their contribution to this field that they actually created an unofficial Toilet Day in Japan that is celebrated every November. So what do you need to know? The answer is Toto. This company controls around 60 per cent of the Japanese domestic market, meaning they have a near monopoly on lavatories in Japan, selling an astounding 3.3 million toilets per annum in Japan alone. Naturally very few of these are the ordinary sort.
What Toto does so well is to invest huge amounts of money into research and development in order to bring out models, like the Neorest 600, that come with just about every trick you could ever imagine (plus a few you probably couldn’t).
The control centre is a wireless remote that is normally mounted on the wall. Press one of the buttons and you activate the rear wash that works by means of an aerated stream of temperature controlled water. Another controls the front wash and there is an additional button to blow dry down under. While somewhat amusing, the Toto Neorest is peerlessly hygienic and the environment loves it, just think how much paper is saved.
But there is more to owning a Toto. Should you be so inclined you can check your blood pressure, play music or sound effects, or tinker with the temperature of the heated seat. But the clincher just might be what is known as the ‘marriage-saver’ function that automatically raises the lid for someone standing and then closes it when they walk away. This is innovation.
For Toto Neorest 600
Colours Cotton White, Colonial White or Sedona
Why This thing has an automatic lid, a silent ‘cyclone flush’ that needs no tank while conserving water, front and rear water streams, an oscillating spray massage, a heated seat, an automatic catalytic air deodoriser, a warm air dryer, a sound system and medical sensors that measure the blood-sugar level (via urine, pulse and blood pressure). Need we say more?
Price starting at 5,200 USD
www.toto.co.jp
