Toilet technology

Not to brag, but I was in Japan for spring break--and it was awesome! Some of the interesting technology things I found were:

1. People don't text on their cell phones, they send emails. All the time! Japanese cell phones are awesome, too. Not only do they have the same features as ours, but you can also watch live tv with an extendable antenna on the side of the phone. Wickedly cool.

2. The subways/trains all have tv screens that show you when you will arrive at your station in addition to playing constant advertisements. This in addition to the giant Times Square type tv screens blaring at all the major intersections will have you buying their merchandise when ever possible.

3. Most museums and shrines have you purchase tickets to enter, but only from machines, not people. In addition, there are the famous vending machines everywhere where you can put in the equivalent to $50 and it'll give you change. Pretty cool when you put $100 into the subway ticket machine, only to have it run out of cash and they instantly fill it for you.

4. Finally, the title of this post. The toilet technology. Where else in the world, when your only other option is the squat toilet, can you find a toilet that is priced at over $1000? The fabulous features include: heated seat (awesome when you're at an outdoor park), "music" feature that plays the sound of a toilet flushing so no one else can hear you do your business, a bidet to spray your backside, another spray feature to wash all the naughty bits, and an automatic air freshening sensor that determines what is being deposited and counteracts the odor appropriately! My only question is why is it not automatic flush? All this technology in a piece of porcelain and you still need to push a button to flush? Maybe in next year's model.