What are cool in Japan? – クールジャパン

There is a TV program called “Cool Japan” introducing unique and interesting things from foreigners’ eyes in Japan, and they celebrated a hundredth anniversary the other day in which they listed the coolest 20 things. Can you imagine the top 10 winners?

1. High-tech toilet
2. Cherry blossom watching party
3. One coin (100 Yen) shop
4. Fireworks
5. Plastic samples of food
6. Onigiri (rice ball)
7. Capsule hotel
8. Bon odori (group dance in summer festivals)
9. Autumn leaves hunt
10. Shinkansen (bullet train)

I show the snap shots of probably less-known choices from #5 thru #8 below:


As for toilets, we recently renovated ours in our 30-year old house. The one we chose was Toto’s top-of-the-line “Neorest” because it is a heated and water-washing seat, typically a must-have in Japan today, it flushes minimum water, and also the shape is very refined. How high-tech? The lid opens up and the small light goes on for itself as it senses someone comes in, the seat is warm as you set it, various options are available for water-jet modes such as sharp, mild, or vibrated, and it can blow the air to dry the wet. Some of the features are actually handicapped-friendly.
For the second toilet, we bought Toto’s “Purest EX” as it was less costly but stylish, and on top of it we installed INAX PASSO, another high-tech toilet seat that we have used for about 5 years.
One problem ☺: You cannot try to find which model you like the most at the shop!


先日、テレビ番組「クールジャパン」の100回記念でこれまで紹介したものの中からクールなベスト20をまとめていた。そのトップ10は下記の通り。

1. 洗浄便座
2. 花見
3. 百円ショップ
4. 花火
5. レストランの料理サンプル
6. おにぎり
7. カプセルホテル
8. 盆踊り
9. 紅葉狩り
10. 新幹線

高機能トイレと言えば、築30年の我が家のトイレを最近改装した。選んだ便器は東陶のトップモデルネオレスト、洗浄・暖房便座は当然として、節水性や外観の洗練度で納得した。番組ではこうした便座の機能の一部は身体の不自由な人のために考えたと言っていた。もうひとつのトイレには同じく東陶のピュアレストEX、これはもう少し手頃でデザインもスタイリッシュだ。こちらは5年くらい使ってきたINAX PASSOという洗浄便座を組み合わせている。
洗浄便座の使い心地はかなりまちまちなのに、店頭で自分のお気に入りを選べないのが問題か。