Japanese Geek puts fun into function with toilet talk

Morinosuke Kawaguchi is a Japanese technology consultant who is becoming quite famous for his entertaining lectures and for his writings.

His recent book, titled Otakude onnanoko na kuni no monozukuri (Neon Genesis of Geeky-Girly Japanese Engineering) earned him the Nikkei BP BizTech Book award.

The book incidentally, was about how to leverage Japanese subculture for top tier product development and innovation.

The thing about Kawaguchi is that he understands the very basics about technology and how important it is to put fun into function. It’s not just about what a product does.

Kawaguchi lectures give us a unique insight into the enjoyable, satisfying, or sheer entertaining aspects of various technologies that we might not otherwise think about, unless we’re Japanese of course.

For example: do you think about the pleasure you get from ripping off the strip of a packet of Ritz biscuits or from the sound of clicking a pen? Or what about the feeling to be had from popping bubble wrap?

According to Kawaguchi, every product should have a special fun feeling, even toilets. Talking of toilets, it is his latest lecture on the Japanese super toilet that has been getting the most attention.

His toilet talk gives us a whole new perspective on toilets like we’ve never had before. The super Japanese toilet does everything for you and I mean everything, apart from the business of course, no one can do that for you not even in Japan. Heck it even washes itself.

Anyway, Kawaguchi explains how when you walk in the lid opens to welcome you and, why the seat heats up in 6 seconds. Apparently that’s how long it takes 80 percent of us to put our backside on the seat.

He goes on to describe the shower function, and in his own unique way he explains the sound system that can camouflage embarrassing noises for the ladies.

As men have built in water pistols and are natural hunters says Kawaguchi, there’s even an imitation fly (some are LED) for the gentlemen to aim at. Of course if they hit it and sustain the flow for a bit, it disappears. Incredible!

If you have GPS your mobile phone will tell you where the nearest super toilet is so you don’t get caught on the hop and have to slum it in an ordinary toilet.

Now that sort of technology isn’t widely available in other parts of the world so the clever Japanese have come up with a mobile version of the toilet technology that you can take with you on your holidays abroad.

Thanks to Kawaguchi, going to the toilet will never be quite the same again and I really get the feeling we’re missing out. This is one cool geek. Check him out on YouTube.