Before 21st-century Japanese smart toilets with built-in bidets, seat warmers and the Otohime flushing sound effect for drowning out the natural bathroom noises of shy privy users, there was the kaway

Before 21st-century Japanese smart toilets with built-in bidets, seat warmers and the Otohime flushing sound effect for drowning out the natural bathroom noises of shy privy users, there was the kawaya. Literally meaning “river house” or “side house,” it was a structure built over a river or an irrigated ditch that acted as a simple […]

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