What’s flushing in Japan?

Written by Jerald Chan


You probably think that you already know about most of the weirdness (or for some, coolness) that the Japanese have to offer already. But, have you seen their toilets? It looks like something that is out of this world.

The Japanese have always been known to love cleanliness and are always one step ahead in technology. When I first saw the toilet bowl here in Japan for the first time, I was kind of dumb founded. There are so many functions to it, you might need a manual for it.

Here is a list of functions that the typical Japanese toilet bowl have:

1. Warm toilet seat

You’ll definitely be grateful for this function, especially in a country like Japan where temperatures can drop to single digits. I’m sure we’ve all gotten that sudden cold shudder when our tenderness comes into contact with a freezing toilet seat. For that, Japan has the warm toilet seat.

2. Flushing music

Ever felt uncomfortable using the toilet in public due to the noise you might make? Fear not, because Japanese technology has come to the rescue, again. When using the toilet, a sound effect of flushing water will start playing to drown out any undesired noises you might be making. This function may work manually or automatically for different toilet seats.  

The artificial flushing sound effect may get annoying at some point of time, so if you wish to stop it. All you need to do is press the large stop button.

3. Spray / Bidet

If you’re too lazy to use tissues to clean yourself up, do not fret. Japanese toilets can clean up for you too. This function may be seen in European countries as well, but is not common in all other Asian countries.

No sexism intended, the ‘spray’ function is for men only; and the ‘bidet’ function is only for women. Well, you can always try using the opposite gender’s, but just be warned that you might be in for a wet mess. If you don’t know what a bidet is, it is a tube that emerges from the back of the bowl upon activation. It will then proceed to spray water to cleanse your bottom.

Strangely enough, the spray/bidet has pretty good aim. You can even adjust the water pressure to one of your comfort.

Photo taken from: http://readwrite.com/files/files/toto-washlet-nozzle.jpg

4. Air dry

Some toilet bowl models come with an ‘air dry’ function as well. It basically works like a hair dryer for your tenderness. If you wish to dry yourself, just press the button. Extremely handy in cold weather.

5. Deodoriser

We all know that the Japanese are extremely polite and courteous - always putting the interest of others above themselves. So when it comes to the inevitable bad stench in the toilet, they have it covered too. If you feel that the stench is overwhelming, you just have to press this button that will spray a citrus smelling substance out. It’s basically a deodorant for toilet bowls.

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Now that you have found out all about the futuristic toilet bowl of Japan, the question in mind now is “since it’s so cool and useful, why isn’t it used outside of Japan?”

Well, there aren’t any concrete theories as to why this isn’t trending elsewhere in the world. But most of what I researched suggested that it was due to the fact that people are uncomfortable with trying new things or even talking about such intimate stuff.

However, we all have to agree that this is definitely way cooler than your traditional toilet. And personally, I think that it’s a pretty well thought and intelligent machine.

Hopefully, this will be available in Singapore in the near future. It obviously provides a more hygienic solution and enhances everyone’s experience in the toilet. But at the end of the day, I think that it all boils down to whether Singaporeans are able to maintain the cleanliness and wellbeing of these first world machines.

The government probably wouldn’t want to fund such expensive bowls to the public if they are just going to be spoiled by inconsiderate users.

In short, we all have to learn how to take care of the current toilets before we ‘upgrade’ to the sophisticated Japanese machine of a toilet bowl.

An English Education in Japan: Waseda University

Written by Stefanie Yeo

A statue of Waseda University’s founder, Mr Shigenobu Okuma.

Photo by Bryan Chua

Arriving at Waseda University on Tuesday morning, we were greeted by a lovely vision – cherry blossoms blooming. After our harrowing experience on the train during the peak hour ride, which included getting lost, separated, and squashed like sardines, the lovely sakura flowers were a welcome sight.

Cherry blossoms blooming in Waseda.

Photo by Bryan Chua

Waseda was our first stop on the third day of our great adventure in Tokyo. Personally, I feel that the town of Waseda is similar to Oxford and Cambridge, in the sense that the entire town is the University.

Waseda has several campuses located within the town, much like how the universities of Oxford and Cambridge have various small colleges within their universities. When I visited Oxford and Cambridge in 2011, I felt that they were serene and scholarly – similar to that of Waseda, with university towns teeming with convenience stores, bookshops and food of all sorts available at every corner.

Our first stop at Waseda University’s main campus was the Okuma Auditorium. The Okuma Auditorium was built to commemorate the institution’s founder, Mr Shigenobu Okuma, who was the 8^th and 17^th Prime Minister of Japan. We learnt that Waseda University was founded in retaliation, so to speak, of the elitist upper-class mentality that was held by other universities during the Meiji era.

We also found out that unlike Meiji University, which has its famous Akamon (“Red Gate”), Waseda University has no such gate. This is to symbolize the fact that Waseda University is open to everyone, regardless of social status or family background.

 FMS Tokyo Trip 2014 at Okuma Auditorium with FMS alumni Lee Xian Jie and Jeremy Boo.

Photo by Craig McTurk

After visiting the auditorium, we attended a presentation conducted by Waseda University on their English-language Degree Programmes. Despite being a Japanese university, Waseda offers undergraduate degree programs in English. One does not necessarily need to be able to communicate in Japanese to enrol in these courses – language is not a barrier to receiving an education at Waseda University.

That was something I personally found very interesting. Honestly, I would never have expected a Japanese University to have degree programmes conducted entirely in English, so this particular bit of information was intriguing.

Studying in Japan was also something that never crossed my mind, seeing as the number of Japanese words and phrases I know can be counted using the fingers on one hand. The fact that such a programme exists shows that Waseda University is truly opening its doors to students from all over the world, and diversifying its student population. This is great, as students will gain fresh perspectives from interacting with others from all over the globe.

After learning more about the English-language degree programmes, Waseda University is now on my list of potential universities. Even if I do not enrol in Waseda, I would not mind spending a semester, or maybe even a year, in Waseda University as part of an exchange programme.  

In my opinion, Waseda is making a step in the right direction by offering the English-language degree programme for foreign students - our world is becoming an increasingly interconnected and globalized one, and this is an example of how universities are adapting to our ever-changing world. 

I’ll be sharing more on the English-language degree programmes at Waseda University, particularly the School of Political Science and Economics’ EDESSA, at a later date. What does EDESSA stand for? Stay tuned to find out!

J-Pop – my first love

Written by Travis Chan

Left photo from http://www.reformatt.com/blog/tokyo-lifestyle

The last time I went to Tokyo in 2010 was also the last time I got to see the iconic billboard of British entertainment retailer HMV’s flagship store in Shibuya, which shut down that same year and has since been replaced by Forever 21 (right photo).

This was a major milestone in the Japanese music industry as it was an exemplification of the deteriorating state of the music industry, especially considering how Japan is the world’s second-largest music market after America.

Not only that, but walking along the streets of Shibuya today, I saw a familiar face looking down on me (literally) – a rather big one, at that. It was the then 15-year-old face of none other than popular singer Utada Hikaru plastered across the gargantuan billboard, which is also the cover to her debut album, “First Love”.

This may seem insignificant to the average traveller, but definitely not to the Japanese – “First Love” happens to be Japan’s best-selling album of all time, having sold over 7 million copies in Japan alone back in 1999. This album is largely dubbed as Japan’s equivalent of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, and “First Love” was given a re-release recently on 10 March 2014, the 15^th anniversary of its release.

Being a fan of Utada Hikaru’s music myself, nostalgic memories brought me back to the time in 2007 when I first discovered her music. Having debuted in an era where female pop singers were the biggest musical fad in Japan, Utada Hikaru was one of the few ladies who wrote, composed and arranged her music all by herself – that is, to me, the true hallmark of a talented musician.

I was feeling rather bittersweet too, as it was only recently that Utada Hikaru announced she was going on an indefinite hiatus, yet at the same time, only further seals her musical legacy in Japan. I’m sure most of us have at least heard her biggest hit, “First Love” at some point, or her more recent hits like 2007’s “Flavor of Life”.

Today also happens to be a Wednesday – an important day to Japanese pop music, as music CDs are traditionally released on Wednesdays in Japan. Music retailers would send in their sales numbers for each release every day to Oricon, the Japanese equivalent of Billboard in America, to be calculated, ranked and published on their website.

As a Japanese music fan, I would remember myself sitting in front of the computer when I was younger, constantly refreshing the front page of the Oricon website, hoping that my favourite singer would get the #1 spot that day.

As you walk along the roads in Shibuya, more often than not, you would see the occasional truck with advertisements of upcoming music releases in Japan, and trust me, they're not that hard to spot – not when they're blasting the songs through powerful speakers loud enough for passers-by to take notice. This method is actually considered one of the most basic forms of promotion for a musical release, which is interesting because there is no other country I can think of that does this.

Despite consistent promotional efforts by record companies, the Japanese music industry has changed drastically over the past few years. As with the rest of the world, people are buying lesser and lesser music in physical format, opting for digital formats instead as they are cheaper and more portable.

While singers could easily sell a few million copies of their CDs from the early to mid 2000s, today, selling half a million copies of an album even for veteran singers are pretty much non-existent. To put things in perspective, 2003’s best-selling album in Japan sold a total of 2,001,917 copies, while last year’s best-selling album sold merely 796,525 copies.

Japanese pop music is unique enough to be an entire genre on its own, and as an avid follower of the music industry here, I still remain optimistic that one day, J-Pop will restore its former glory and reclaim its musical throne in Asia after the K-Pop wave.

A Train Of Thought

Written by Jerald Chan




Tokyo truly lives up to its reputation of being the world’s most populous metropolis in the world. Back in Singapore, we always complain about how our trains are too congested. When I saw the crowds in Tokyo, my first reaction was ‘Singapore has nothing compared to Tokyo’ – in terms of crowds.

As ‘kiasu’ Singaporeans, we always want to be the first for everything; well, I certainly hope that we don’t beat Tokyo’s crowds. The train crowds in Tokyo just hit me in the face, quite literally. During rush hours, I’m not exaggerating when I say that people’s faces will be an inch away from yours. The whole carriage is basically a huge sardine can. You have people breathing down your neck and for some, it may feel like a violation of personal space!

People often get ‘stomped’ for the smallest things back at home, such as not giving up seats or being too touchy on trains. In contrast, it is almost impossible to not be in physical contact with anyone in the train.

“How do people put up with this everyday?” I’d ask myself whenever I get on the trains. I personally really hate crowds, so the train crowds here were quite a culture shock for me. But, the truth is: yes, people have to deal with it every day of their lives. And so do we, for our remaining days here since we’ll be using the train to get around.

The Japanese have always been known to be polite and nice. This can be seen even in the smallest ways like how people behave on trains, or even while waiting for trains.

The famous ‘Bishan Train Queue’ is a common sight in all train stations. If you think the ‘Bishan Train Queue’ is an amazing display of kindness or courtesy, wait till you see it in Tokyo. In every train station, people are always queuing in an orderly manner to enter trains and always make sure that there is space for other commuters to alight first – something I feel that we all can learn from the Japanese culture.

This is a mindset that is cultivated since childhood. They all have a mutual understanding of one another and are really polite – even in nasty situations when trains are so congested that they have to squish their faces against the door, or against other faces. There are no occasional ‘tsk’s or strange looks.

Even though Tokyo has the largest train crowds, they cope with it pretty well. To put it simply, they are very efficient. Before coming to Tokyo, I watched this really interesting video on Facebook about how and why Japanese trains are so efficient and never late.

In short, the Japanese take a lot of pride and effort in maintaining their trains and tracks. Having already watched that video prior to the trip, I felt much safer and confident of the train systems here.

What makes it amazing is that they manage to make sure that the train systems are safe and efficient, throughout all the lines. Try getting from Ikebukuro to Waseda using the map.

We tried getting there without any guide or help and nearly got our brains fried. Oh, and we almost got lost too. Nobody wants to get lost in a huge city like Tokyo. And if you are already finding it difficult to remember the train lines and stations in Singapore, try figuring this out.

So, if you do not want to get lost in Tokyo’s maze of a transport system, you can always try using http://www.trains.jp/. It basically helps you plan your route from one point to another, and provides all the different ways you can use to get there. In short, it's Japan's version of gothere.sg. 

There is also an app for it on the Apple App Store for iPhone users to help you navigate on the go! The best thing about this app is that it is ideal for travellers as well, because it does not require any Internet connection to help plan your route!

Photo from https://itunes.apple.com/sg/app/trains.jp/id344946340?mt=8

All you need to do is type in which station you’re at, and which station you wish to go to. This app has saved us from getting lost quite a few times. We highly recommend it.

The Japanese train transport system is really quite a work of wonder, both architecturally and culturally.


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This is part of a series of posts where our writers who have never been to Japan before look at an aspect of Japan that impressed them the most upon arrival, and their experience in these areas from a fresh mind's perspective.