Ancient Japanese Bathrooms

Japan, with its high-tech commodes spouting warm jets of water, is often said to have some of the most pleasing bathrooms in the world. A contemporary Japanese squat toilet The traditional Japanese-style (和式, washiki) toilet is the squat toilet. A squat toilet differs from a sitting toilet in both construction and method of employment.

A squat toilet essentially looks like a miniature urinal set horizontally into the floor. Most squat toilets in Japan are made of porcelain, although in some cases (as on trains) stainless. Since ancient times, there also existed toilets built over running streams.

These types can be considered a primitive form of flush toilets. Pit toilets came into widespread use over the following centuries. In the thirteenth century the Japanese, who were largely a farming people, began to use the waste taken out of these toilets as fertilizer.

While the pleasure of taking a bath unites people across the globe, Japanese bathing culture has a charm of its own, which can be appreciated easily. Join us as we look back at a culture that began in Japan in conjunction with Buddhist traditions. Did you know? The history of bathing in Japan dates from the 6th century.

Japanese elite began to construct private baths in their homes during the Kamakura period (1185-1333). The invention of "mushiburo" or "steam bath" in caves appeared at the same time. Eventually, the popularization of communal bathing for the masses culminated in the sento culture of the Edo period.

The first sento was recorded in 1591. Utsumi observed that Japanese bath architecture's influence is growing internationally, with "an increase in luxury bathrooms" featuring separate bath and toilet rooms, single drains for the bath and shower, and automation of bath water temperatures. The main reason of all this is considered the wrong bathroom design, easily met in many today houses.

The restroom and the bathroom are usually situated in the same area. Tracing the architectural evolution of Japanese bathhouses, we ponder on their cultural impact and hope that their presence can be preserved despite the conventionality of home bathrooms. Japan is renowned for the quality of its toilets, perhaps best symbolized by its invention of toilet seats with warm water jets.

In the second installation of this series, which puts the spotlight. Bathhouses became an Edo tradition during the Edo period (1603-1868), and appeared in the voluminous materials produced by the writer and artist Kitagawa Morisada.