How Japan’s Toilets Became So Good: The “TOTO” Story

Discussing the story of Japanese toilets company TOTO Ltd., from its founding, to its roles during the World Wars, to the creation of the TOTO Washlet bidet, and its legacy on Japan's toilet culture. This video tells how Kazuchika Okura and Morimura-Gumi sparked Japan’s leap from night-soil and squat toilets to flush seat toilets, health-monitoring smart toilets, and a world-leading sanitaryware industry. From Meiji-era origins in Nagoya to the Dressler tunnel kiln (Conrad Dressler), the Great Kantō Earthquake, WWII’s war economy (Kokura/Nagasaki, Bockscar), Japan’s post-war economic miracle, the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, and the 1980 Washlet campaign (Jun Togawa, Takashi Nakahata, American Bidet Company), we show how omotenashi design made Japan the leader in toilets. Subscribe to my Email Newsletter to get the scripts to my video essays and other good stuff: https://letter.thelouiszhao.com/subsc... Join my community for early, ad-free access to videos: https://substack.com/@thelouiszhao Patron shoutout! Thank you Cornelia Rensi, Ilia Zaitsev, Jason Knight, Michelle Schoen, Rachel Anne, Systemangel Heaven, Vivaan Desai from the “桌(desk)” tier! Thank you Alberto Manni, Audra Cormier, Chris, Duo Duo Xu, Eugene Yavaev, Lilleson Alexander, MaX Korkisch, Megan Frazier from the “茶(tea)” tier! Thank you Alexander Holovatyi, Irene Elisabeth Hitchcock, Jorden Villarreal, Levethian7, zejeni from the “米(rice)” tier! Your support means more to me than you know! 00:00 Intro 02:17 The Founders 03:33 Kazuchika’s US Experiences 03:53 Japan’s Sanitary Environment 04:44 European Trip 06:47 Making the 1st toilet 07:28 Manufacturing the toilets 09:12 WWI 10:59 The Great Kanto Earthquake 12:51 WWII 16:15 Post WWII & Economic Miracle 17:34 From ‘squat’ to ‘sit’ 20:24 Creating the Washlet 24:54 Selling the Washlet 27:47 Conclusion 30:30 Closing Attributions for assets used: • Image by Chainwit. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... • [[File:The Great Kanto Earthquake (3767766524)(cropped).jpg|The_Great_Kanto_Earthquake_(3767766524)_(cropped)]] • https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... • https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...