Japan’s famously high-tech toilets are set to become easier to use after a consortium of plumbing-product companies agreed to standardize the symbols on their commodes’ control panels.
The Japan Sanitary Equipment Industry Association, an organization that includes Toto (TOTDF), Panasonic (PCRFY), and Toshiba (TOSBF), is introducing eight standard images, meaning raise the toilet lid, raise the toilet seat, large flush, small flush, rear spray, bidet, dry, and stop. The standardized signs will be rolled out later this year.
This move will make the country’s toilets easier for tourists to use in advance of the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020 and create “a toilet environment that anyone can use with peace of mind,” the BBC reports.
