Very big business

Published in Die Zeit, 9.4.2015

Japanese toilets resemble science fiction movies: automated flush function, music for discretion, water pistols for cleansing, and fast drying fans. From my first encounter with a high-tech toilet, I was curious about what the mastermind behind this invention was thinking. I found out when I interviewed Junichi Tani, chief toilet designer of Japanese toilet market leader Toto, and learned not only about the often unappreciated beauty of excrement containers but also the West’s conservatism, which compromises Toto’s expansion.

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© Martin Holtkamp / DIE ZEIT

© Martin Holtkamp / DIE ZEIT

Japanese toilets resemble science fiction movies: automated flush function, music for discretion, water pistols for cleansing, and fast drying fans. From my first encounter with a high-tech toilet, I was curious about what the mastermind behind this invention was thinking. I found out when I interviewed Junichi Tani, chief toilet designer of Japanese toilet market leader Toto, and learned not only about the often unappreciated beauty of excrement containers but also the West’s conservatism, which compromises Toto’s expansion.

Read it as published in: