8/15/2006

Tokyo #9: Toilet Part 2

As promised in a previous post, here is our second bathroom experience. This was in Shinagawa train station. As we were getting off the Yamanote train, I read a sign in Japanese saying 'Shinagawa Tip Toilet' in Katakana. That was enough to get me curious. It turned out that it was a restroom with an honor box to throw money into. But that was only the 'tip' of the iceberg with this restroom. The men's room was what I would expect to find on the starship Enterprise. It was all maple wood, white, chrome, and loads of back lit panels. It was so cool. The hand air dryers were such that you would stick you hands into a slot then slowly withdrawn them so that the water squeeged off. Just like coming out of a car wash dryer. It worked so slick! I tried to linger so I could get a picture but every time it vacated someone would walk in.

When I finally left Linda was waiting for me and was excited to tell me how cool the ladies room was! She said that there was a display panel that indicated which stalls were vacate or occupied so that a women would know which one to go to. I bet the Enterprise doesn't even have that one.

It's no wonder that they needed to ask for tips to use the bathroom. The station must have spent a fortune on it. I now realize that we were so in awe that we forgot to throw in a tip. Gomenasai!

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