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Japanese toilets are the best in the world and the control panel is in Japanese. Here is every button, both toilet types, and the two rules that cause genuine problems if you get them wrong.
The short answer
- The big orange or red button marked 止 is STOP. Learn this one first.
- おしり = rear wash. ビデ = front wash (bidet).
- Flush is often not on the panel — look for a lever, a sensor, or a separate wall plate marked 大 (large) and 小 (small).
- Toilet paper goes in the bowl. It is designed to dissolve.
- Toilet slippers stay in the toilet. Walking out in them is the classic visitor mistake.
The washlet control panel
| Symbol | Reading | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 止 | tomeru | Stop. Usually the largest button, often orange or red. |
| おしり | oshiri | Rear wash. |
| やわらか | yawaraka | Soft rear wash, gentler pressure. |
| ビデ | bide | Front wash (bidet). |
| 乾燥 | kansō | Warm air dryer. |
| 音姫 / 音 | otohime | Privacy sound — plays running water to mask other noises. |
| 水勢 | suisei | Water pressure, adjustable up and down. |
| 位置 | ichi | Nozzle position, forward and back. |
| 便座 | benza | Seat temperature. |
| 流す / 大 / 小 | nagasu / dai / shō | Flush — full or reduced. |
Do not press anything while standing
The nozzle sprays where the seat sensor says a person is sitting. Pressing おしり while standing to inspect the panel produces a jet of warm water across the room. The washes only operate with weight on the seat on most models — but not all.
Where the flush is hiding
This is where most visitors get stuck. The flush is frequently not among the washlet buttons. Look in this order:
- A lever on the cistern, exactly as at home. Often marked 大 for a full flush and 小 for a reduced one.
- A separate wall plate, sometimes a distance from the seat, with 大 and 小 marked.
- A sensor panel — hold your hand flat over the marked area for a second. These are common in newer public toilets.
- A foot pedal at the base of the bowl, in older public facilities.
- Automatic, triggered when you stand and step away.
If you genuinely cannot find it, the 流す button on the panel is the fallback where it exists.
The squat toilet
Still found in older stations, parks, temples and rural facilities. It is a porcelain trough set into the floor.
- Face the hood. The raised, domed end is the front — you squat facing it, not away from it. This is the opposite of what most first-timers assume.
- Squat fully, feet flat, feet on the ridged sections either side.
- Move trousers and bags well clear. There is nowhere to put anything down; there is often a hook on the door.
- Flush with the lever or handle at the hooded end, or the foot pedal.
Where a facility has both, the Western-style cubicle is usually marked with a pictogram on the door — and there is often only one of them.
The slipper rule
In any home, ryokan, temple or restaurant where you removed your shoes at the entrance, there will be a separate pair of slippers just inside the toilet door. They are for the toilet only.
- Step out of the house slippers at the toilet door.
- Step into the toilet slippers.
- Take them off again when you leave, and leave them facing into the toilet for the next person.
Walking back into a dining room in toilet slippers is the single most recognised foreign-visitor mistake in Japan. Nobody will confront you about it; everybody will notice. The broader footwear rules are in shoes off in Japan.
What goes in the bowl, and what does not
| Item | Where |
|---|---|
| Toilet paper | In the bowl. It dissolves and is designed to be flushed. |
| Wet wipes, tissues, cotton pads | Bin — or take them with you. |
| Sanitary products | The small covered bin in the cubicle. |
| Anything else | Never. |
Japan is the opposite of countries where paper goes in a bin beside the toilet. Here it goes in the bowl, and a cubicle bin is for sanitary items only.
Practical notes
- Public toilets are free, everywhere — stations, parks, department stores, convenience stores. They are also, by international standards, remarkably clean.
- Carry a small towel. Many public toilets have no paper towels and no dryer. A handkerchief-sized towel is standard equipment for everyone in Japan.
- Some older facilities provide no toilet paper. Rare, but a packet of tissues in your bag costs nothing.
- Department store toilets are the best — clean, quiet, well equipped, and always on an upper floor.
- Convenience stores generally let you use theirs. Ask at the counter.
For the rest of the unwritten rules, see line E — including what to do with rubbish, which is a related and equally surprising problem.
Sources
- Japan Sanitary Equipment Industry Association — standardised washlet pictograms adopted across manufacturers.
- Manufacturer operating instructions published by the major Japanese sanitary ware makers.
Data checked: 2026-09-27
