The Sankei Shimbun's web edition carried an article about the increasing sales of hot-water toilet seats in the US.
While the penetration rate of hot-water toilet seats in general households in Japan is over 80%, the penetration rate overseas is surprisingly low, even in the U.S. it is said to be around 10%.
The first hot-water toilet seat was sold in Japan in 1964, and it was an American-made product called Wash Air Seat. In other words, it originated in the United States.
However, it sold very poorly in Japan at the time.
In Japan, it was not customary to wash one's buttocks with water after using the toilet, flush toilets were not widely used in households, and the toilet bowl was Japanese style.
After that, flush toilets and Western-style toilets gradually became popular, and as Japanese manufacturers developed hot-water washing toilet seats that fit the Japanese body shape, the popularity of these toilets gradually increased and most houses were equipped with them.
As the penetration rate of hot-water toilet seats in Japan has been increasing, Japanese hot-water toilet seat manufacturers have been trying to find sales channels overseas, but their sales have been slow. However, it is now said that hot-water washing toilet seats are starting to sell well in the United States.
The reason for this is that the new Corona caused a shortage of toilet paper in the U.S. due to the buying up of toilet paper.
If you wash your buttocks with water, you will use much less toilet paper. According to a study, the use of toilet paper tends to be reduced by as much as 70% when using a bidet or toilet seat with water.
An article in the New York Times titled "Stop Using Toilet Paper" has also helped increase sales.
The penetration rate of hot-water toilet seats outside the U.S. is roughly 20% in China and about 5% in Southeast Asia.
In the Philippines and Thailand, people have the custom of washing their butts with water, and some hotel room toilets are equipped with manual toilet showers, so I think there is a demand for them.
If you look at YouTube videos of high-end new homes for sale in the Philippines, there are almost no toilets with hot-water toilet seats at the moment.
There may be a price issue (imported products from overseas are expensive in the Philippines), but I think that once people use them, they will easily understand their advantages, and I think that they will eventually become popular in the Philippines.
When I move to the Philippines and build a house, I plan to install a hot-water toilet seat and bathtub.
