The Hidden Achievement of Inbound!　Even foreign butts need to be washed!　Washlet” now going overseas!

Overseas diffusion of “Washlet,” a long-cherished wish of Japanese users

With a household penetration rate of 82% and 116.3 units per 100 households in Japan (both from the Cabinet Office’s “Survey of Consumption Trends”), it is no exaggeration to say that almost all households now have a warm-water toilet seat.

In addition to ordinary households, in the past few years, toilets in commercial and public facilities have also been fitted with hot-water washing toilet seats, and Japanese people have come to recognize that a toilet seat is one that has a hot-water washing function.

Because we have become accustomed to such an environment, many of us may have experienced difficulties when traveling or staying in Europe or the Americas, where they are still not widely used, although their prevalence is increasing in neighboring East Asian countries such as China, Taiwan, and South Korea. For Japanese users, who have long since come to believe that their butts should be washed with warm water, it is a long-held dream to see the use of these products spread overseas.

TOTO, the developer of the “Washlet” toilet seat, has an extraordinary desire to promote the use of Washlet toilet seats overseas.

TOTO swept the first three places in the U.S. TOTO’s water-saving ability has become a hot topic. s water-saving ability has become a hot topic of conversation.

Currently, TOTO’s hot-wash toilet seat sales in the U.S. have increased more than fivefold from FY ’18. The company is feeling such a positive response to the spread of the product that the president himself said in a message to investors, “We have seen signs of full-scale penetration in the Americas,” and “We are about to see a winning opportunity that we feel will be a big hit or even surpass the big hit we have experienced in the Japanese market.

Nevertheless, as those who have visited the region can attest, the current penetration rate in the Americas, mainly the United States, is not high, and the likelihood of encountering a warm-wash toilet seat in a facility during one’s travels is low. Nevertheless, TOTO is steadily making inroads into the U.S. market.

First, TOTO’s challenge in the U.S. began with the establishment of a local subsidiary in 1989. The turning point came in 1994, when the amount of water used per flush was set at 6 liters or less due to the rapid population growth and drought in the United States. Here, the company demonstrated its water-saving technology and gradually increased its presence in the U.S. market.

In 2002, TOTO products dominated the top three places in a third-party survey of the “best-performing water-saving toilets,” beating out local manufacturers, and the company became the center of attention. Since then, deliveries to luxury hotels and airports have increased dramatically, and TOTO’s brand recognition has grown dramatically.

SNS and inbound sales ignited the fire in American consumers’ asses!

TOTO has thus enhanced its brand power as a manufacturer that excels in “water conservation,” but this has not led to an explosion in the popularity of Washlet. To begin with, for those who have not had the experience of washing their buttocks after doing their business, as Japanese people did in the past, a bidet toilet seat is a luxury item that is neither necessary nor urgent.

Nevertheless, the company continued its steady PR activities, such as caravanning with toilet seats in a camper-like vehicle and setting up distributor showrooms mainly at building material stores (stores that sell kitchen and bathroom products, components, etc.) in urban areas to appeal to local installers. In the mid-’10s, the company faced a major turning point.

This was the spread of SNS and the increase in inbound travel to Japan. This led to the uploading of a series of photos of hot-wash toilet seat experiences by tourists visiting Japan, and the number of people who had experienced “washing their butts” and who were interested in the act increased. In 2004, Amazon began selling washlets in Japan, and Costco, hearing of their popularity, began selling them in its stores.

The Washlet has become so well known among the general public in the U.S. that “some people even give them to their parents as Christmas presents,” according to Miyashita, and as the president’s message at the beginning of this report indicates, shipments are steadily increasing.

TOTO Europe, where TOTO was founded, is also home to 200 company for 200 years, too.

TOTO has finally begun to capture the butt of the Americas, but on the other hand, it has not gained as much momentum in Europe. One of the most frequently heard reasons for this is that “Europe has hard water with a lot of calcium, which clogs up the nozzles. The problem is also addressed by the following statement: “It is true that hard water tends to clog nozzles. However, products for the European market are equipped with a lime remover, so the clogging problem has been overcome.

A higher barrier is the environment in which toilets are installed. In Japan, toilets are almost always in separate, private rooms, but in Europe, bathrooms and toilets are usually in the same space. Because large amounts of water are used there, electrical outlets are often not provided.

Electricity outlets are essential for hot-water washing toilets that run on electricity, and the same is true in Japan as well. However, adding a new outlet requires specialized qualifications, and the lack of an environment in which they can be easily installed is a bottleneck. This is said to be a factor hindering the spread of this technology in Europe.

However, TOTO sees this as a good time to take advantage of this opportunity, as it is expected to eventually become easier to install toilet seats in Europe, in the same way that the electrical installation regulations for homes in the U.S. were changed in 2013 to allow the installation of outlets that take into account the installation of hot-wash toilets. TOTO sees this as an opportunity.

In Germany, the authority of craftsmen (meisters) is strong, and products approved by meisters are more likely to be used in various facilities. However, the history of sanitary toilets in Europe is naturally longer than that in Japan, and TOTO is in the position of a challenger here.

“If we say, ‘Our company has a history of more than 100 years,’ it is not true. We have a history of more than 100 years,” but in Europe, there are many manufacturers of sanitary toilets that have been in business for more than 200 years. In Europe, there are many manufacturers of sanitary toilets that have been in business for more than 200 years. Originally, when the founder went to Europe, he was impressed by the sanitary toilets there, and he tried to popularize them in Japan. s history,” says Mr. Miyashita.

TOTO has returned to Europe, where its founder dreamed of 100 years ago, with an innovative product, the Washlet, and may soon be in control of Europe’s buttocks after Asia and the United States.