Japan to make its confusing toilets tourist-friendly

  • 19/01/2017
Japan toilet industry symbols
Tourists will no longer fear confusing "rear spray" with "dry" (Newshub.)

The Japanese toilet industry has come together and agreed to standardise the icons used on their complex and confusing high-tech toilets.

Tourists have often struggled to understand the control symbols, leaving them pants-down and bewildered in front of a frightening array of features - which include "rear spray", "large flush", and "raise lid".

Faced with the incomprehensible range of options, more than one foreigner has made a terrible mistake and pushed the wrong button - sometimes with disastrous results.

Ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan is focused on making their country more tourist friendly - and fortunately the Japan Sanitary Equipment Industry Association is ready to do its bit.

Their new combined standard will implement a system of eight new pictograms, with plans to make them the international default.

As shown in the picture, the options will now read - from left to right - raise the lid, raise the seat, large flush, small flush, rear spray, bidet, dry, and stop.

Newshub.