There are three types of Japanese toilets. The oldest type is a simple Asian squat toilet, which is still common in public restrooms. After World War II, modern Western-type flush toilets and urinals became common. Current state of the art is a high-tech bidet toilet, known as a Washlet, which as of 2004 is installed in over half of all Japanese households. These high-tech toilets include a built-in bidet for both the anus and vulva, where a water jet cleans the private regions of the user. Many additional features are also often included, such as a blow dryer, seat heating, massage options and other adjustments for the water jet of the bidet, automatic opening of the lid and flushing after use, a wireless toilet control panel, heating and air conditioning for the toilet room, etc.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_toilet

Today's selected anniversaries:

1871 "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?": Henry Morton Stanley located missing missionary and explorer, David Livingstone in Ujiji, near Lake Tanganyika in presentday Tanzania. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Morton_Stanley)

1928 Hirohito was crowned the 124th Emperor of Japan. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirohito)

1969 Sesame Street debuted on National Educational Television. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesame_Street)

1975 The United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 3379, which equated Zionism with racism. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UN_General_Assembly_Resolution_3379)

1995 Playwright and environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa along with eight others from the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People were executed by the Nigerian military government. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Saro%2dWiwa)

Wikiquote of the day:

"The time has come", the Walrus said, "To talk of many things: Of shoes - and ships - and sealing wax - Of cabbages - and Kings - And why the Sea is boiling hot - And whether pigs have wings." ~ Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking-Glass (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Through_the_Looking%2dGlass)