Sleeping Jellyfish

The technology in Japan is very interesting. Their phones and cameras are better than ours in the states but other things like Televisions and computers are comparable. The difference is really in the small things and the details. I think I discussed the problem with internet here, how in The States there is wireless everywhere, at cafes it is nearly mandatory. If you serve coffee, you better not be caught without Wi-Fi. Even most bars in Winona have wireless. Strange. But here you can’t find a signal to save your life. Not even at Starbucks. That is because people use the internet on the their phones, or go to an internet cafe and pay a dollar for ten minutes. The phones here can also pick up television broadcasts, act as MP3 players, record video and audio, and play it back. It seems kind of silly but I guess it would be nice to not lug around a 10 lb laptop all day.

Today I would like to mention a few other small differences particularly in the bathroom amenities. The toilets are from the future. Seriously, they are straight out of a sci-fi movie from the ’80s. Think Blade Runner toilets, or maybe 5th Element. So, when you first mount up and drop the drawers, you should take the time to relax. And with this amazing feat in sanitation engineering it is very easy. The button farthest to the left is a seat warmer. That is right. A toilet seat warmer, and the two buttons below are temperature settings. I fell asleep once because it was so comfortable. The next few buttons I think you can maybe guess what they are. I believe called a “douche” or a “bidet” in many countries, you have the pleasant option of not only wiping your own bottom, but giving it a thorough cleaning. You can control the spread of the water and velocity. The last button I believe is intended for the ladies according to the picture, since it seems to be a long haired person. You can also do a big flush or little flush depending on the size of your payload, and when you flush water comes out of the sink so you can promptly was your hands. Also there is soap that is injected directly into the water that replenishes after the flush so it acts as a self-cleaning mechanism. No scrubbing required for any long standing sinkers.

It is curiosities like these that make me think Japan is ahead of the curve as far as consumer based technologies. Is there anything on par like this in the states? I just for the first time used one of the new Airblade style hand dryers, where you put your hands in a knife motion downwards through streams of air. Fast and it feels nice too. The Iphone is pretty neat too but expensive and limited service choices. I wonder how much one of these toilets cost? And where can I get one?