Toilet Trivia
Toilets in Japan are a great source of grammatically incorrect and sometimes nonsensical signs of the kind that are found on Engrish.com.
In Japanese public toilets that actually have toilet paper you often find that the person who used the cubicle before you has folded the first sheet of paper into a triangle like housekeepers in hotels do. This is probably not origami practice, but rather a reflection of the importance of neatness in Japanese culture.
Neatness is also reflected in the fact that whereas westerners usually leave the toilet door open after use (for ventilation, and so the next person can see it’s vacant), Japanese people usually close the door when they leave.
In China the word ‘toilet paper’ is written as 手紙 (pronounced shóu zhǐ), using the characters 手(hand) and 紙(paper). In Japanese language the characters 手 and 紙 have the same meanings individually, but the combination 手紙 (pronounced tegami) means a hand-delivered piece of paper, or in other words ‘a letter’. All Japanese people seem to be aware of this fact, on account of it having been featured as trivia numerous times on TV wide shows (variety shows).
Any North Americans reading this Toilets in Japan series will no doubt be horrified at my repeated use of the word ‘toilet’ as the word is considered vulgar in American English, euphemisms such as ‘men’s room’, ‘washroom’, ‘bathroom’ and ‘restroom’ being more common. In British English, however, the word ‘toilet’ is perfectly acceptable in all but the most formal situations.
Countless national and regional variations in expressions used to talk about toilets can be found in the English language. For example, in Australia the word ‘dunny’ is common, while more coarse examples found in British and American English include ‘bog’ and ‘can’ respectively.
In Japanese there are two words for toilet. The oldest is the more discreet otearai (lit: ‘hand washing’) but the English-derived loan word toire is more common. Interestingly W.C. is often used on toilet doors and signs - while the meaning is understood by Japanese people you won’t find anyone who knows what the letters stand for.
In some other countries (particularly those in Europe) it’s quite common to have to pay to use public toilets. Fortunately, this is not the case in Japan. Furthermore, Japan is probably the only country in the world where there are toilets in almost every convenience store, meaning that you’re never very far from a free public toilet.
Check out the rest of the Toilets in Japan series: parts 1, 2 and 4.
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on Sunday, July 29th, 2007 at 9:03 am and is filed under Uncategorized, Articles in English, English Language and Western Culture, Japanese Language and Culture, Japan in General, Toilets In Japan.
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