We thought we were a little heavy, constantly talking about the time of our last marathon (3h33 all the same). But that was before Dimitri acquired a Japanese toilet and tells us daily how much his life has changed since then. Not that our friend’s butt health doesn’t concern us, but it’s okay, we understood that his little ass had never been clean or treated so well, no need to repeat it to us each time we pass on the throne.
Dimitri is not alone in his little corner, because Japanese toilets have become the ultimate thing to have at home, the Rolex or the BMW toilet version. Even Squeezie, YouTuber number 2 in France, spoke in a live of this purchase experienced as “the biggest love of my life”.
« A jet of water in your fiak to clean it. There is nothing better. A very warm bowl in winter. It’s a luxury, that’s true luxury, that’s true wealth. It’s the Japanese toilet, it’s not a Lamborghini or I don’t know what. Japanese toilets are the ultimate gentrification” »
Towards “a real Japanese toilet mania” in France
Jean-Louis Lamarque, store manager The Throne in Paris, shares the same enthusiasm: “I sell more and more every year” – now around ten per month. For him, it’s obvious, “to try Japanese toilets is to adopt them”, he believes. Before putting down his unstoppable argument: “When you are dirty, it’s normal to wash yourself instead of just wiping yourself”. Bunches of big Western crap that we are.
Thierry Berrod, director and author of the documentary Toilets without taboo (2020, Arte), goes even further in this new love story between France and the 9.13 toilets: “I think that the country, and Europe in general, will experience the same thing as Japan twenty years ago years old, with a real Japanese-toilet-mania”. Now, 80% of homes are equipped with Japanese toilets, an object that has “become commonplace”.
Japan, France’s fascination for thirty years
If Japan does not yet dominate French toilets, it has long since conquered hearts. “For us Westerners, it remains the strangest country in the world, and one of the rare cultural models to have resisted Americanization – and therefore standardization. Manga cannot be confused with another type of comic book, for example,” explains Pierre-Louis Desprez, specialist in brand imagination. However, “everything that is strange and foreign is attractive. This escapes us and therefore attracts our attention, the most important value in our current societies. »
And since to try Japanese toilets is to adopt them, the massive increase in French tourists to the land of the rising sun – from 150,000 in 2010 to 280,000 in 2023 – can explain their new popularity. The country has understood how to fascinate crowds and sell. “The TOTO company, leader in technological bidet toilets, is now seen as a means of soft-power by Japan and continues to gain market share,” continues Thierry Berrod. The company has doubled its overseas revenue since 2012 and says it has sold 60 million toilets.
Everything to please
TOTO says in particular that it has benefited from Covid-19. For two years, hygiene was the main global topic. Just as important, successive lockdowns have completely revived the interior furniture market. Count 14.6 billion in turnover for French furniture in 2023, compared to 9.76 billion in 2017. And if there was indeed a place to invest… “The toilets were an unthought of the house, remaining in side of innovation,” estimates Johanna Volpert, associate professor of marketing at Kedge Business School Bordeaux. We had upgraded all our rooms – kitchen with airfryer, flat screen TV, Alexa speaker… except our toilets. A paradox: “According to several studies, we spend three years of our lives inside,” recalls the expert. And the question of optimizing space arises particularly in bathrooms.”
Especially since the toilets have no shortage of potential improvements. We have seen the hygienic side, but let’s add the ecology. Each year, a person with “Western” toilets consumes 10 to 15 kg of toilet paper. The toilet made in Japan also uses between two and three times less water than the Western version each time it is used. “The sound design and the possibility of music also make it possible to avoid embarrassing moments, a real concern for many people,” also lists Johanna Volpert.
Chic and toilet
There is sometimes a much more primary reason: “the futuristic and gadget side which really appeals to certain customers, much more than technical considerations. A bidet sounds old-fashioned, whereas here…” says Jean-Louis Lamarque, suddenly philosophical: “It takes everything to make a world”. And then, “ given the price for these toilets, it’s luxury,” recalls Pierre-Louis Desprez. And that matters too: “Attraction is never based on low cost, it always goes towards the high end. We don’t dream of a Dacia.”
This success also illustrates a new marketing trend – LOL. Japanese toilets, Birkenstocks, the comeback of Desigual… “Today, it is fashionable to invest your money in offbeat, slightly useless or deliberately kitsch objects. It’s surprising and it gives the appearance of being detached, above material considerations,” confirms Johanna Volpert.
There are still a few pitfalls between this technological gem and our butts. Compared to Japan, we are much less focused on hygiene, recalls Thierry Berrod. “This country even has a Toilet God, Kawaya-no-kami. And ceremonies to bless the underwear. » Above all, by the time these toilets are completely imported into France, they could already be completely out of fashion, believes the director: “We are moving towards ever more connected toilets, without the use of water, with nanomembranes, within a few years “. Enough to already place Japanese toilets in Fachiotte faux pas.
