Japan Oddities

This is a guest entry from none other than my Mr. R (Right!)

Enjoy folks!

Two Japanese oddities that totally make sense

1. Faucets on toilet bowls

Having heard of Japan's high-tech electronic toilet bowls with built-in bidets and heating, I came prepared. Anyway, my toilet bowl at home has a built-in bidet, although not electronically controlled. What did surprise me was the toilet bowls with faucets that run water into the tanks.

From our first accommodation (Guest House Wasabi)

Really odd. That is, until I realized that it allows you to use the water twice. You could wet your hands using that faucet then proceed to the sink to soap up and rinse. Meanwhile, the water that you used to wet your hands is stored for the next time someone uses the flush. In that way, the water is recycled instantly. Instant water savings, and given the water-energy nexus, energy savings as well. Sugoi!

2. Condensed milk in toothpaste tube

Not strictly a Japanese oddity as a quick Google search returns results from other countries, but I saw this first in Japan.

Picture from Google - but this is the same brand that Chabs (our host in Yokohama) had

Condensed milk is thick (viscous) so it makes sense to put it into a tube and squeeze it out as needed. Then you just put the cap back on. Convenient and clean. This stands in stark contrast to how we do it in the Philippines: our condensed milk comes in tin cans. We punch a hole then wait as the milk pours out very slowly. Inconvenient and messy.