Oops! In my excitement, I forgot to explain the bathtub picture below. Sorry!
The Japanese must be the world's leaders when it comes to bathroom technology. Bidets are such luxuries and technologically so awesome! Having said that, 99% of the toilets that we used while we were traveling in Japan were not bidets. Actually, about 75% were probably of the old-fashioned squatting variety! But the ones in the new shopping mall in Hiroshima were bidets! After using one, I half-jokingly said, "I think God's leading us to Hiroshima!" ;P
But their baths... Wow... I knew they liked their onsen but I didn't know their bathtubs at home were all like mini-onsens too! I also had no idea they have traditions associated with bathing at home and not just at onsens...
Japanese bathtubs are shorter and deeper than those we use in the West, and even countries elsewhere in Asia like Korea. They have developed an amazing way of keeping their bathtub water warm! Baths in Japan are traditionally taken in the evening after a quick shower. One member of the family soaks in the water, and then puts the lid on when s/he is finished to help conserve the water temperature. Then the next person takes a quick shower, removes the lid, soaks, puts the lid back on, etc etc. There's a heating system within the "walls" (?) of the bathtub which keeps the water at a constant temperature as well so the water remains the same temperature until the last person is done.
The bathwater is then used the following morning to wash laundry. Japanese washing machines don't seem to have different temperature settings and dryers are not commonly used (if at all?). Once the laundry is done, it's hung up to dry a~ll day.
We found out about this bathtub cover when we visited the Murrays the 1st time around. I had bells ringing, lights flashing, goosebumps all over my arms when Susan showed me their bathtub during the tour of their lovely home because of the vision that our friend B had had prior to our vision trip. For me, personally, that was the first time I felt that God might be leading us to Hiroshima, not Osaka.
It also helped me when we were praying for wisdom in whether or not to return to Hiroshima for a 2nd trip. My heart was all for it as I'd completely fallen in love with the Murrays but I needed to discern whether or not it was His will. I'm so glad that it was and that He used the 2nd trip to open up the doors for a more longer-term 3rd "trip"! :)
Peter's dreading it, but I can't wait for my first trip to an onsen. :D A NON-mixed one please. ;P
The Japanese are the leaders in bathroom tech for sure! How is it that so called "First World" Countries are still using wadded up handfuls of toilet paper to clean themselves? I mean, we have computers that can talk, and cars that can almost drive themselves but our bathrooms are still back in the dark ages. I think Dr. Oz on Oprah said it best: "if you had pee or poop on your hand, you wouldn't wipe it off with paper, would you? You'd wash it off" Those sprayers, some call a bathroom bidet sprayer are so much better than handfuls of toilet paper! I experienced my first sprayer in Thailand and fell in love with it. I found one online at http://www.bathroomsprayers.com and installed it myself. When are people there going to wake up and realize that you can be so much cleaner, feel better (can you imagine going all day without brushing your teeth? yuck!) and you can help the environment by cutting back on the use of toilet paper. It will even save you money! It's a no-brainer.
ReplyDelete