Japan regularly sees a surge in inbound foreign travelers in spring, with many hoping to time their trip to coincide with the blooming of the country’s famed cherry blossoms. Unfortunately, a sudden cold snap kept the flowers from opening until later than predicted, so those who came to Japan in late March missed their chance to enjoy the sakura scenery.
But on his trip to Japan last week, American comedian and talk show host Jimmy Kimmel still got to see one of the most beautiful things in Japan: the nation’s pristinely clean bathrooms.
“I took my family to Japan this week, and I have to say, I’m still not sure how I feel about what happened over there,” the comic said in his opening monologue for an episode of nightly TV show, Jimmy Kimmel Live. “We were in Japan for seven days. Not only did I not encounter a single dirty bathroom, the bathrooms in Tokyo and Kyoto are cleaner than our operating rooms here.”
▼ Kimmel talks about his trip to Japan at the start of this video.
As a wealthy celebrity, it’s safe to assume that Kimmel stayed in some pretty fancy accommodations during his trip, but what blew him away was how clean bathrooms are across a wide swatch of facilities in Japan. “Everywhere you go the bathrooms are clean. They don’t smell bad…And not just in the hotel. Restaurants, bars, truck stops. I went to two truck stops. I swear to God, the bathrooms: cleaner than Jennifer Garner’s teeth,” he gushed, comparing the unblemished porcelain of Japan’s bathroom fixtures to the Hollywood starlet’s pearly whites. “After traveling to Japan I realize that this place, this USA we’re always chanting about, it is a filthy and disgusting country,” he declares.
Now, it’s worth noting that there are, in fact, dirty bathrooms in Japan too. Venture too far down into the dingy spectrum of shack-like ramen joints and dive izakaya pubs, often cramped places with only the bare minimum number of people running the place, and yes, you can find toilets that have been left uncleaned for far too long, marked by a historical record of improper, often inebriated aim for bodily functions of various ejection points. Similar scenes can sometimes be found at train stations located near bar districts around the last train of the night.
Kimmel also mentions traveling to other parts of the world where the bathroom situation is only “dirt holes where plumbing is supposed to be,” while singing the praises of Japan’s bidet function-equipped washlets, which he describes as “toilets that wash you from the inside out.” Not every toilet in Japan is a washlet, however, and in older facilities, especially in the countryside, an old-fashioned washiki, or squat-style, toilet might be your only option, though these are at least ceramic and connected by pipes to the sewer system.
That said, squat toilets are becoming less and less common in Japan. On the cleanliness side, while Japan’s dirtiest toilets are indeed shockingly filthy, you’ve got, on average a much better chance of finding a clean toilet in Japan than the U.S. Particularly at any chain shop or restaurant, even cheap fast food places and mall food courts, a dirty bathroom is the exception, and clean ones are the norm, and the same goes for airports, theme parks, and the vast majority of public restrooms inside any sort of managed building. And yes, that’s also true for Japan’s highway rest stops, what Kimmel seems to be referring to with “truck stops,” are amazingly clean.
It wasn’t just the cleanliness of restrooms in Japan that Kimmel was impressed by, either. “There’s no litter. People carry their own trash,” he says. “There are no garbage cans in Tokyo. 30 years ago, some terrorists put some poisonous gas in some trash cans, they’re like ‘OK, no more trash cans. Everybody clean up after yourselves.’ And guess what? People, they clean up after themselves!”
His timeline is a little off here, While there was a reduction of public trash cans following the Tokyo subway sarin gas attack in 1995, it didn’t result in a complete removal of all receptacles. There was a further reduction as a precaution following the 2004 train bombings in Spain, but even now, you can still occasionally find trash cans in rail facilities. They’re definitely few and far between, though, and Kimmel is entirely correct in that the vast majority of Japanese society doesn’t see a lack of trash cans as an excuse to litter, and instead accepts that any trash a person generates while out and about is theirs to hang onto until they have a suitable place to dispose of it, even if that means carrying it all the way home.
“It’s like the whole country is Disneyland, and we’re living at Six Flags,” Kimmel says, contrasting the world’s premier theme park with its less polished competitor. “I’ve been home 36 hours. I’ve never felt dirtier.
“I can’t imagine what [Japanese people] must think of us. ‘Oh, the garbage people? Yes, the Americans, garbage, yes,’” Kimmel muses. As a comedian, he’s obviously exaggerating for comedic effect here, but just to put everyone’s mind at ease, Japan doesn’t have a widespread image of Americans as “garbage people.” At the same time, Japan is very aware that it’s a country with a high standard of cleanliness, one born out of its emphasis on personal responsibility and showing consideration to others, and in that sense clean bathrooms can, like sakura, very much be considered a symbol of Japanese culture.
Source: YouTube/Jimmy Kimmel Live
Read more stories from SoraNews24.
-- Open stall indicators, fresh flowers, and the superb cleanliness of a Japanese highway restroom
-- Kyoto village dealing with poo on floor as Japanese-style toilets confuse foreign travelers
-- Attack on Toilets now going on inside Osaka train station bathrooms
- External Link
- https://soranews24.com/2024/04/03/american-comedian-jimy-kimmel-was-blown-away-by-japans-bathrooms%E3%80%90video%E3%80%91/
91 Comments
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Paul
He didn't have the pleasure of visiting any of the Japanese toilets at the beachside in the summer did he!
Spitfire
He didn’t go to a typically uninsulated one in the dead of Winter either.
WA4TKG
Good one Paul, lol.
That’s the best thing he could find to talk about.
Don’t bother to come to Okinawa, I imagine he didn’t or we would have heard about it.
factchecker
Get him to visit the ones at JR Shinjuku station.
He also missed those which don't provide soap or hand drying facilities, of which there are many.
runner3
If I built a new house in Canada all the bathrooms would have Japanese toilets.
ycgdude
I wonder if he knows what a traditional Japanese toilet looks like.
3RENSHO
There are no public "bathrooms" in Tokyo, but there are public toilets.
TokyoLiving
So right...
Same reaction had Tucker Carlson after visit Moscow..
TokyoLiving
LOL !!!!!...
TokyoLiving
This is the difference aftrer compare in a visit a real first world country like Japan and live the whole life in a overrated decadent thirdworldish country like good old US..
lol..
Anonymous
Do you mean the “squat ‘n’ drop” into the pit type (which my country in-laws had until 35 years ago)?
Gaijinjland
He’s obviously not referring to any train station bathroom or public restroom. I saw feces in the urinal at Shinjuku station last night. Hadn’t seen that since my high school days in the states. Disgusting.
But the nicest public bathrooms have to be in Nikko. Even in the dead of winter they are heated… well, they probably have to be otherwise the toilet bowls will freeze over.
JeffLee
I unexpectedly had to drop the kids off at the pool while on the Narita Express a couple of days ago, and I must say the facility was impressively spacious and clean.
YankeeX
The pinnacle of Japan Inc in 2024! All jokes aside, Japan has the best toilets in the world
SDCA
There are some impressive roadside bathrooms I've visited when on my driving/ sleep in car trip around Japan. Michinoeki and Service/ Parking Areas are super helpful when driving and staying the night. There was even a michinoeki that had a free to use public ashi yu. This was super nice to be able to take off your shoes and socks and let your feet soak and unwind after hours of driving. My toes thanked me for that one!
carpslidy
Safer, cleaner, friendlier, better organized, cheaper
Japan beats America hands down
fallaffel
You are certainly brushed up on your toilet politics, and can't miss a chance to dump on the US. Lol..
Antiquesaving
It is interesting to read to what stretch some here will go to soothe their hurt feelings!
Sure every place in the world has at least a few bad or unclean public toilets!
But despite all the " he didn't got to (incert your complaint) " the probability that your examples of worst in Japan are better than the worst in North America or Europe.
I has seen public restrooms in Japan on mountain "national" routes that were basically squat toilets over a hole in the group, but even those were better than the actual "outhouses" which were nothing but a few boards walls a hole for a seat with a regular toilet seat bolted to it, no sink, water heat in the middle of winter in Canada and many northern and rocky mountain states of the USA.
See we can all point extremes out in any country!
But on the whole, 99% of Japanese public toilet facilities are cleaner than North American ones or European ones.
OssanAmerica
Why should he? Most young Japanese people don't either.
Saw the same type of toilets in the countryside of Greece, where they called them "Turkish toilets". Nothing unique about them, the basic "hole in gthe ground" system is found throughout mideast to central Asia to China.
While nt every single toilet in Japan may not be 100% clean and wonderful, taken on average, Japanese toilets are far far cleaner than any toilets you see in the United States. You have to have no choice but to use a US gas station toilet to really grasp the experience.
As for all the poo-pooers here, besides the level of cleanliness, the technology of Japaese toilets with their auto wash function is on a different level.
Chabbawanga
The toilet near the Hachiko statue used to be something truly spectacular. I dont mean that in a good way.
Antiquesaving
True, most Japanese I know their first thought about the USA isn't garbage, it is safety!
Many Japanese think the USA is a place where if you go, you must be on your guard against crime, drugs and violence!
Which is true and not true at the same time.
Most major USA cities are not so safe especially in certain areas, but most of the non major urban areas are quite safe and pleasant and this view is not the fault of the Japanese but that of the USA itself and it's own news services.
It is funny that, I started reading this article right after coming back into my house after greeting my neighbours while we were all doing our daily morning sweeping and clean the road and entrance areas Infront of our houses.
I live in Tokyo 23 wards and every morning it is the same ritual all the home owners or apartment building maintenance people go out and pick up any garbage that may have been left by people with no respect or in my case blown from the garbage pick-up area after the crowd and cats ripped open the bags, and sweep the road.
While visiting Canada recently I couldn't believe how dirty the streets were Infront of my parent's place was because no one cleans up they just wait and expect the city cleaning crews to come by at some point, then they all complain about how their taxes keep going up!
Personally, if my choices are carrying my garbage around when out in Tokyo (or anywhere in Japan) and having to clean the area (road) Infront of my house means not having to pay more taxes to hire government cleaning crews and garbage collection, then I am fine with that!
WoodyLee
"" most beautiful things in Japan: the nation’s pristinely clean bathrooms.""
Obviously Mr. Kimmel never been to Singapore, Malaysia ,or even the clean parts of the U.S. ! stock in LA slums that's what happens to you.
rcch
[ “I took my family to Japan this week, and I have to say, I’m still not sure how I feel about what happened over there,” the comic said in his opening monologue for an episode of nightly TV show, Jimmy Kimmel Live. “We were in Japan for seven days. Not only did I not encounter a single dirty bathroom, the bathrooms in Tokyo and Kyoto are cleaner than our operating rooms here.”
…
“Everywhere you go the bathrooms are clean. They don’t smell bad…And not just in the hotel. Restaurants, bars, truck stops. I went to two truck stops. I swear to God, the bathrooms: cleaner than Jennifer Garner’s teeth,” he gushed, comparing the unblemished porcelain of Japan’s bathroom fixtures to the Hollywood starlet’s pearly whites. “After traveling to Japan I realize that this place, this USA we’re always chanting about, it is a filthy and disgusting country,”
…
It wasn’t just the cleanliness of restrooms in Japan that Kimmel was impressed by, either. “There’s no litter. People carry their own trash,” he says. “There are no garbage cans in Tokyo. 30 years ago, some terrorists put some poisonous gas in some trash cans, they’re like ‘OK, no more trash cans. Everybody clean up after yourselves.’ And guess what? People, they clean up after themselves!” ]
I used to watch Jimmy Kimmel, I mean, he was funny and he seemed like a nice, likable guy… but not anymore, maybe he is(?), idk, but he’s annoying when he’s presenting the show, always claiming the moral high ground—people can’t stand all that political talk, anti-Trump rants and extreme praise for celebrities while real life problems faced by millions of hard working Americans are ignored. But, occasionally, he’s right, and in this case, well said, Jimmy, well said. Funny that he’s Jimmy Kimmel, but he’s still a relatively ignorant American, just like many others—he had to come to Japan to realize this simple fact—when compared to Japan, the US is a “jungle”. And it’s not just the bathrooms, right, Jimmy? Good thing that he came to Japan—now more Americans will know that the US is not as good as they thought it was.
wallace
They are in fact "toilets" even if Americans call them "bathrooms". Always confusing.
wallace
Since I became a user I am mostly impressed with the standard and availability of disabled toilets.
Mocheake
Japan wouldn't be anywhere near it is now without the U.S. The reason for its success is directly tied to how they were rebuilt by America. Get it straight. One more thing, I've been to many so called Third World countries and have been treated much better than in Japan. Character and treatment of your fellow man is much more important than how clean a toilet looks.
NCIS Reruns
Let's give credit where credit is due. The Japan Toilet Association (located in Shimbashi, Tokyo) began campaigning for cleaner facilities back in the 1980s, awarding prizes for the nation's most sanitary facilities. It also held seminars on "Torei no Hi" (Toilet Day), every November 10. (The date 11/10 creates the mnemonic ii toirei or "nice toilet")
Antiquesaving
Oh, I can 100% agree with you so much!
It became even more apparent the difference when I was recently in Canada!
A toilet for those with "disabilities" were 99% just an extra large stall with a bigger door and nothing different, I was lucky if it even had bars to aid getting on and off the toilet!
After a few days I was so missing the 7 eleven disability toilets!
Coulda been
Jimmy Kimmel is a comedian? Now that is a good joke.
Garthgoyle
The one thing I miss the most about Japan whenever I leave is one of the most basic necessities. Being able to take a poop in a clean toilet. Japan really does this best!
People in the west, at least in 'murica, could not care any less about the person after them whenever they hit the throne. Such a basic thing and such a pleasure to finding clean facilities. And yet, they just don't care.
wallace
There are many sit-down toilets I can't use. Dirty or the cubicle is too small for my needs. I can't use the washiki because medically I need to sit down to pee and change my diaper. Disabled toilets are always easy to find.
OssanAmerica
Not exactly true. US post war reconstruction was indeed significant. But modern Japanese history and development doesn't start in 1945, It starts in the late 1800s.
TaiwanIsNotChina
As a humble pleb, I was not impressed with the JR station bathroom.
Slayer
It would be great if he stayed there.
wallace
TaiwanIsNotChina
Don't be surprised, but there are over 8,567 train stations in Japan in total! Which one were you referring to?
WA4TKG
Jimmie WHO?
Oh, that guy I see when flipping through the channels, and he’s not American
wallace
Most of the public modern toilets are a very recent event. 30 years ago the washiki/squat toilet was the norm.
Politik Kills
Wow, American discovers another culture. Big news.
aaronagstring
Utter tosh.
This article has absolutely nothing to do with Dems, progressives, leftists, liberals or immigrants, who must be living rent-free in your head. I swear, some people just can’t stop.
Japanese toilets are great. I love ‘em. I especially like the warm seats in winter.
John-San
I don,t think USA tourism will be getting his bloke to head any USA tourism campaign But their might a Job with Japan Tourism waiting for him.
Jimizo
Very successful man - huge audience.
Upsets people who are very easily upset. Comedians can do that.
Quo Primum
Hmmm. When Tucker Carlson said that Moscow was so much nicer and cleaner than any city in the U.S., he got savaged by the Left.
But when the leftist Jimmy Kimmel says that Tokyo and Kyoto are so much nicer and cleaner than any city in the U.S., everyone laughs and laps it up. Especially the Left.
I don't think Kimmel even realizes the can of worms he just opened up on his whole ideology here. He hasn't got the tiniest clue.
He apparently doesn't realize -- or just conveniently ignores -- that the implementation of his own leftist policies is what largely has caused U.S. cities to become so grimy and dirty and unpleasant compared to Japan in the first place.
I'm loving this. I'm loving how Kimmel is indicting his own social worldview, and doesn't even have the foggiest clue that he's doing it.
Blacklabel
Jimmy Kimmel is a liberal idiot best known for making fun of a Black man while wearing blackface.
Redemption
Japanese be crapping in style.
Jimizo
Tucker Carlson is a proven grifter selling whatever he thinks will sell to the less able.
Not a good way to open a post.
buchailldana
Although I have plenty of complaints about living in Japan nearly 30 years.
Everytime you leave to travel abroad, no matter what continent, the one thing that is striking is the availability of toilets for the general public whether public toilets , convenience stores, malls, hotels with no charge and their general cleanliness.
No one can deny that
mountainpear
@Mocheake What does that have to do with the culture of cleanliness? Americans are still stomping around their houses in shoes!
Strangerland
Because Tucker was an idiot pandering to a dictator.
Note the absence of the idiot, and the dictator.
Strangerland
It must drive you guys crazy that he never got cancelled for that. You should hold on to that anger, it seems to be serving you well.
daito_hak
Now it’s hilarious that some buffoon liberal/democrats like Kimmel praise another country now for anything really after having supported every possible policy that has put US in the state it is today including the filthiness of its cities.
Shadows of the Rising Sun
He stayed at a five star hotel and went to the best restaurants. I'm pretty sure it would be the same in the US at similar establishments. He didn't visit some of the public toilets in Japan or the toilets at schools.
People get weird and unrealistic with their comparisons.
bass4funk
He’s got an even bigger audience and is a lot funnier, never miss a show!
https://www.forbes.com/sites/markjoyella/2024/04/04/on-top-of-the-cable-news-ratings-greg-gutfeld-signs-new-multi-year-deal-with-fox-news/?sh=4814faa6590c
Don’t know why, even Fallon is funnier.
In any case, Kimmel for once is right about something, Japan as a whole is cleaner than the States, most countries actually with the exception of Singapore, Dubai and Austria respectively.
METATTOKYO
It's not hard for any developed nation outside the US to be safer, cleaner, friendlier, and better organised.
It is cheaper than some countries though.
wallace
The UK being the fourth cleanest country is not correct. Raw sewage is being pumped into rivers and the sea.
Redemption
Kimmel seems okay to me. I am glad he enjoyed pooping in Japan. I enjoyed his long ago comedy show with girls jumping on trampolines with bikinis to watch their funbags go up and down.
METATTOKYO
You are talking about spills and overflows by some UK water companies. Japan is not immune to simailr spills and overflows, unfortunately.
Japan's 2023 EPI score was 57.2 making it 25th in the World EPI or clean environment standards.
The UK had a score of 77.7. second behind Denmark with 77.9.
John-San
Better than those USA blinkers. LOL
bass4funk
I could never live anywhere without a Japanese washlet.
wallace
bass4funk
Including the US then.
Shadows of the Rising Sun
How do you define a 'Japanese toilet' ? A toilet made and/or designed in Japan?
A toiloet with a heater and an inbuilt bidet? Well, Japanese toilets are not the only ones that have heaters and toilets.
When we moved out of Japan my Japanese wife insisted that we have a bidet and heated toilet but there were no Japanese toilets available as such.
Hello Kitty 321
How things have changed. When I first arrived in Japan, I was shocked by the filthy, primitive toilets.
bass4funk
Absolutely, all our bathrooms have them. Not even an option.
wallace
bass4funkToday 03:18 pm JST
Not in public restrooms
wallace
Beyond the Blossoms
Japanese washlet toilets are available in New Zealand.
https://www.thebidetshop.co.nz/
Shadows of the Rising Sun
Thanks Wallace. I think my comment was not clear enough.
What I meant was that there are bidet toilets in NZ but not Japanese-made ones. I'm pretty sure Japanese toilet makers do not export overseas, though it seems like a no-brainer thing to do.
We bought a bidet toilet (the first thing we bought in NZ) but it was not from Japan; it was designed and manufactured locally (incidentally, by a Kiwi married to a Japanese woman).
https://www.cleanlet.co.nz/
BackpackingNepal
Bring back Asian squat loos, it feels so good how poo comes out so smoothly!
Western toilet? Yeah i squat on it too but heavy people cannot able to do it otherwise whole toilet will be flush down!
Onlooker
Let's add "T" in the middle, that is, Make America's Toilet Great Again....
Dale Spenser
Bring back Johnny Carson! Oops, can't do that. Conan O'Brien runs circles around Kimmel.
bass4funk
What? I never mentioned anything about restrooms, huh?
bass4funk
100% agreed!
TheDalaiLamasBifocals
As the old saying goes, judge a man's character on the state of his lavatory.
I never visit somebody's house or business without my blue light torch and bacteria testing kit. If I discover stains on the walls or high levels infection I know to take them as a bounder and to vacate the premises immediately.
Yubaru
Bet he was really blown away in some other establishments as well!.
I highly recommend every guy who visits Japan experience them at least one time!
buchailldana
There's a funny South Park sketch on Japanese toilets.
A level above the rest of the world.
I think Brad Pitt bought George Clooney one as a present years ago.
Mocheake
OK, and I do remember reading about certain ships from a certain country conducting gunboat diplomacy in the 1800s to open up the place.
falseflagsteve
From what I understand Mr Kimmel is a halfwit and a bounder..
njca4
I haven't sat on a toilet that doesn't have a jet for years ..
runner3
You can buy Japanese washlet toilets in most countries, check out Amazon.
asiafriend
rcchToday 10:13 am JST
As for bathrooms, I recall working in Japan in the late 80s and there was one bathroom for men and women together. The urinals were on one side and the stalls opposite them, maybe only three meters from urinal to stall. It was a small restroom and as I stood at the urinal doing my thing, many women were waiting in line for a vacant stall. I could feel a ladies’ back rub against my back as she waited for a stall to become vacant. That is the way it was done in Japan, at least in this instance. I accepted it as part of assimilating to Japanese culture. That’s one of those incredibly unusual times that does not fade from memory.
As for keeping things clean, I always watched with amazement, and joined in with other spectators, to clean up the isles and seating areas after a baseball game, such as in the Tokyo Dome. Of course, students cleaning up their school and helping to dispense food at lunchtime is also amazing. This would not happen in the US, but that does not make the US a bad place.
Hercolobus
Not all toilets are made equal. Even the smelliest or nastiest ones in Japan are better than the non-existent ones in the U.S., particularly in the U.S. DC metropolitan area where there are no toilets. And in the capital they only set up portable ones during special events.
on my trips to DC I need to exercise to force myself to go to the toilet before leaving for fear of a necessity while traveling by train or even by car.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Literally all of the public museums in DC have toilets. And outside of the downtown, every fast food establishment has them. May not be as good a situation as Japan but better than a lot of other countries.
wallace
"Clean toilets" needs the help of the users. It is not always the case.
ClanPsi
Kimmel is supposed to be a comedian? Huh...
リッチ
Many are great. Sadly most men don’t wash their hands properly with soap and water after they use them. While they look clean they must be disgusting.
N. Knight
Kimmel is for the most part correct.
The USA is an utter dump compared with Japan.
1glenn
It is my experience that most Japanese restaurants over here in the US have cleaner restrooms than most other restaurants.
Maria
What astounds me is how toilets at new malls and train stations continue to have one stall fitted with a squat toilet that nobody wants to use. Even the elderly refuse it as squatting hurts their arthritic knees. Why are there public toilets with washlets that nobody uses because they consider the water unclean? I do appreciate the warm seats!
John
The toilets in train stations in japan are probably the worst public toilets in the country, However, they are very compatible with the best public toilets in US and EU. Public toilets in Europe are really disgusting .
wallace
John
The ones I have used in Himeji, Kobe, and Osaka were very clean and modern.
Anonymous
Did some prankster change the washlette settings to maximum?
travelbangaijin
Bring back Nightline - ABC got rid of a good news programming show to compete with late night hosts
PTownsend
I agree, what continues to surprise though are those saying 'bathroom' is the wrong word to use when describing what they say is a 'toilet' What's surprising is that that global English has many dialects, none necessarily more 'correct' than some of the others, but jingoists gonna be jingoists, and will continue their search for reasons to look down on those that don't use their dialect. The 'king's English' is also a dialect.