为什么日本的马桶比美国的先进那么多？ [美国媒体]

Why are Japan's toilets so much more technologically advanced compared to those in the USA?

为什么日本的马桶比美国的先进那么多？



Geoffrey Widdison, lived in Japan
Answered Jan 9
Because the Japanese people have proven far more willing to spend thousands of dollars on a toilet than are Americans.
The idea of one country's toilets having better technology than another's is kind of misleading. In a globalized world, technology is pretty much available to everyone who's willing and able to pay for it. America has the money, but not the willingness. Which is probably a pretty good answer to why these overdesigned toilets aren't being competed with by any American companies.
From an American perspective, it's pretty obvious why most Americans wouldn't be willing to pay. Americans generally see the toilet as a purely functional object, that fulfills a very basic function, and one that we don't really like to think about all that much. We deposit our bodily wastes in it, and it goes away, and that's the end of it. As long as it performs that function, few people care about anything else. And you can easily get that for under 200 bucks, so why would you pay for anything else?
In Japan, the quality of one's bathroom experience seems to be more important, to the point where a tricked-out toilet seems more important. There are a number of theories about why, and I'm reluctant to take a position on it. The thing is, that desire is mostly cultural. And Japan just simply has a different culture than the US, and accordingly different personal priorities.
Now, as I say this, I'm sure people will point out that the bidet function has inherent and objective advantages over toilet paper, and I happen to agree with that. American reluctance to accept bidets is a combination of inertia, bullheadedness, and an unwillingness to discuss or even think about scatological topics. That said, you can add a bidet to an American toilet for under 40 bucks. Bidets being superior doesn't explain Japanese toilets.
Japanese toilets are all about bells and whistles: heated seats, built in white-noise generators, remote control operation with heated water and heated, scented air for drying with different temperature and pressure levels. All of that stuff is fine, but it's not necessary by any reasonable definition, and most Americans have little interest in spending money on it. So Americans pay much less money for much simpler toilets.
TL;DR. A lot of Japanese people are willing to spend more money for more toilet functions to enhance their bathroom experience. Most Americans aren't.

因为日本人更愿意在马桶上花钱。说一个国家的厕所比另一个国家的马桶先进，这其实是具有误导性的。在一个全球化的世界里，只要愿意付钱，每个人都可以获得技术。美国有钱，但是没有意愿。
从美国人角度看，美国人不愿意在马桶上花钱是显而易见的。美国人大体上马桶所为功能性的物体，满足人类最基本的需求，谁没事天天想着改进马桶啊。我们在马桶里排泄身体里的垃圾，仅此而已。只要具备了这个功能，几乎没有人会去思考马桶了。而不到200美元就可以搞定，凭什么要多花钱呢？

在日本，人们貌似更看重卫生间里的体验，所以豪华马桶就很重要了。日本的这种需要大体是出于文化上的。而日本文化确实和美国很不一样，所以人们的关注点自然也就不一样了。
日本的坐浴盆确实比厕纸有优势，但是由于惰性，刚愎自用以及不愿意谈论粪便话题，所以美国人不愿意接受坐浴盆。话虽如此，在美国厕所里安装一个坐浴盆也才40美元不到。坐浴盆更好并不能对日本厕所做出解释。
日本厕所可以说是花里胡哨：电热坐垫，内置的白噪声发电机，热水和热气的远程控制，不同的温度和压力。这些东西可以，但不是必需品，大部分美国人根本没兴趣在这上面花钱。所以美国人花更少的钱购买更加简单的马桶。

Ashley Shepherd, Music and Audio Producer, Tech Author, owner at Audiogrotto studios.
Answered Jan 9
Two reasons:
Water cleansing is ceremonious in Japan.
Procter and Gamble won the butt cleaning debate in the US.
The act of cleaning oneself with water is as close to sacred in Japan as you can get, from what I have learned. The temples I visited, specifically the famous one in Osaka, had elaborate hand cleaning rituals at their entrances. This jives with the reverence most Japanese have for the bathroom and routine cleaning of the body with water. The Toto Washlet is an obvious extension of that cultural idea.
In the US, people are hung up on toilet paper. Being the son of a life long P&G employee, I saw the brainwashing of their propaganda for butt cleaning with toilet paper. Its ridiculous. It’s like avoiding the shower after a mud wrestling match and instead, using paper towels to clean yourself off. That’s silly. Take a freekin’ shower!
After traveling to Japan a few times, I ordered a Toto Washlet lid for my house and have now named it “The Best Day Ever”. No more monkey-butt. Good to go! It was not thousands of dollars and Amazon delivered it right to my door.
You could use the blow dryer but a little TP to pat dry and you’re off to the races… :)

两个原因：
水清洁在日本是一种良好的礼仪。
保洁公司在美国赢得了屁股清洗辩论。
据我所知，用水清洁身体在日本是非常神圣的事情。我访问过的寺庙，特别是那个着名的大阪寺庙，在入口处都有非常精细的洗手仪式。所以日本人对于卫生间以及身体的清洁上是非常重视的。TOTO公司的卫洗丽就是这种文化的延伸。

在美国，人们习惯于使用厕纸。作为宝洁公司终身员工的儿子，我亲眼目睹了该公司是如何洗脑人们的，让人们觉得用厕纸擦屁股才是最好的。太荒唐了。这就好比在参加泥地摔跤比赛后你不用水洗澡而是用纸巾来擦拭身体。这是愚蠢的。还是洗澡吧！
在去了日本几次后，我给自己的房子订购了一个toto公司的卫洗丽，屁股干净多了。也不用花多少钱，而且亚马逊直接送到我家门口。

Le Hao, B.A. International Business, Aalto University School of Business
Answered Jan 8
I used to have a Japanese professor who has, by now, spent most of his life in the USA, but he visits Japan with his family sometimes. He told our class this: “Whenever I come back to Japan I’m always shocked. I’m Japanese but I’m still shocked. I’m shocked at how fast they (the Japanese) develop new technologies that makes daily lives more convenient. My sons always told me they felt that the US is usually ten years behind Japan when it came to technology (his sons were children when they said this so cut them some slack). But I think our innovations aren’t always transparent. Because they usually hide in everyday objects. You guys probably know about the toilets; those are popular. But there are others too. Did you know that Panasonic has a fridge that keeps your frozen meat soft? The meat is frozen, but it stays soft just like when it’s fresh. Can you believe it?
I think the Japanese, we usually focus on making our daily lives more convenient. That’s why Japanese companies like producing everyday objects; but they make them better, more innovated. It’s a principle behind Japanese companies that you need to understand when you study them; they put the customers first, and the investors second. That’s why you should buy Japanese products, but invest in American companies.”
So in short, according to my Japanese professor, Japanese toilets are more tehnologically advanced because Japanese companies focus on innovating them, more so than American companies. Because in their mindset, the Japanese like to improve objects that they use everyday. Their innovations may not always be acknowledged, because the innovated objects are often mundane, but that’s the way they like to do things.

我们之前的一个教授是日本人，他的大部分时间都居住在美国，但是有时候会和家人一起去日本玩。他对我们说：
“每次回到日本我都感到震惊。虽然我是日本人，我还是震惊。我震惊于日本人那么快的发展技术让日常生活变得更方便。我的儿子们经常对我说他们觉得美国在技术上总是落后日本十年（当然他们的孩子在说这些话时还是小孩子）。但是我们的创新不总是显而易见的。因为它们通常隐藏在日常物体中。你知道松下有一款冰箱能保持冷冻肉柔软吗？肉被冻住了，但是是软的，就像刚刚宰杀后那样。是不是难以置信？我觉得日本人专注于让日常生活变得更方便。所以日本公司喜欢生产日常物体；但是它们把这些日常物体制造得更好，更有创意。在研究日本公司时你需要注意这条原则；他们将顾客放在第一位，投资者第二位。所以你应该购买日本产品，但是投资美国公司。”

所以，根据我日本教授的说法，日本马桶更先进是因为日本公司比美国公司更加关注于马桶的创新。因为日本人喜欢改进日常使用的物品。他们的创新可能没有总是得到认可，因为他们所创新的物体通常都是很平凡的东西，但是这就是日本人的做事风格。