Photo Favorite: Toilet Sink in Japan

by Dave on May 8, 2011 · 10 comments

Combination toilet + sink in a Kyoto hostel.

Combination toilet + sink in a Kyoto hostel.

I was already aware of electronic, heated toilet seats, however nobody prepared me for the ingenious toilet sink in Japan!

I encountered the first one while couchsurfing Tokyo, and snapped the above photo in the bathroom of my Kyoto hostel. Due to the dense population in Japanese cities, this solution to maximizing space, while ensuring proper hygiene, is priceless.

What do you think?

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is the author of 1573 posts on Go Backpacking.

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Categories: Features, Japan, Photos

10 Comments

Anonymous May 8, 2011 at 5:39 pm

Dude they got these in jails across the US. Just break the law sometime and check it out! lol @rtwDave:twitter

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Dave May 8, 2011 at 5:43 pm

Hey @foggodyssey:disqus thanks for mentioning me in your comment using the new Disqus feature. I’d rather go back to Japan than jail!

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Anonymous May 8, 2011 at 6:15 pm

you know, i don’t get the new thing on here for Twitter though. I didn’t get anything on my Twitter feed when you used my name, did you? @rtwdave:disqus

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Dave May 8, 2011 at 6:18 pm

I think I needed to use the @ symbol before your name. You should get a Twitter alert for this comment @foggodyssey:twitter

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Genkinahito May 9, 2011 at 11:24 am

been in japan for 11 years never really thought much about these toilets.

the shochu really hits the spot though. .

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Dave May 9, 2011 at 9:33 pm

I looked up “shochu” and it refers to sake. Does it mean something else as well?

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Tsbackup Kcorps May 11, 2011 at 9:37 am

wow…

they are so creative…

it’s so efficient and simple..

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Angela May 13, 2011 at 4:07 am

 Does it recycle the water from the sink into the cistern too?

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Dave May 13, 2011 at 2:45 pm

Angela, I imagine yes, because that’d be the environmentally friendly thing to do. I found this quick article on the topic of toilet sinks and in the given example, it says it does do exactly that: http://www.walletpop.com/2008/10/17/toilet-sink-combo-a-flush-of-genius/

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Nick Zantop June 6, 2011 at 8:17 pm

Certainly makes sense! Not sure that this will ever catch on in many houses in the US, but it’s definitely a great water-saving idea.

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