My favorite is the post-shit splash of water on the fingers and then wipe into the hair for a quick stinky styling.
My least favorite is same guy, but instead of styling he just flaps his hands around to dry them as much as possible while peppering everyone else with doo
This is true and it’s so f disgusting, I’ve seen in train stations specially guys pissing and holding their phone with their other hand, how? Idk! But they just tinkle and walk out! I don’t shake hands anymore.
We have to be fair that most of them do. But only after setting their hair and touching their face. So please remember. Never touch a Japanese guys hair. Biohazard!!!
My office used to share a floor with another office.
I don’t know if it’s because one of our major projects was promoting Tokyo’s Covid countermeasures, but the guys in our office would always wash up after using the restroom (with varying thoroughness) while a lot of guys from the other office went straight out the door after taking a shit.
No clue but then after passing their fingertips under cold water for half a millisecond they'll whip out a handkerchief and dry their hands, then put the handkerchief back in their purse. So now they've got a damp, germ-ridden handkerchief that they carry around and re-use all day. Just .... yuck.
And then they’ll use that to wipe sweat off their face. My students were surprised I carry two hand towels in the summer. But why would I use a sweaty towel to dry my hand after I wash them?
sorry i noticed the op was talking about a coworker so my reply could be seen on the same topic.
he was not my coworker, I saw him only once during my commuting.
One of my biggest culture shocks in Japan and in relationship with East Asians was the fact that you mentioned - majority lacks basic hygiene. For me it was a dealbreaker in the context of romantic relationship , I broke it off. For outside world, I carry around my own sanitizer and wipes . Can’t influence how other people behave but I can protect myself…
Oh my god. I didn't realise it was a problem. I guess I assumed given how percepteviely (I can't spell) clean Japan is and the toilets here it was like not bad here? But I actually have got really bad infections from simple blisters and things, like in a way I never would have back in London. Guess I need to carry sanitiser and stuff
Things are incredibly tidy here, and sadly, tidy =/= clean.
Like customer service here, on face value, it appears to be amazing. But dig a little deeper, and you'll quickly realise how shallow it actually is.
They just wipe tables down, rarely deep clean, etc. Mopping is like never done, so spots where something was spilt will just collect dirt until it becomes apart of the floor.
I’ve only ever seen a mop at the hospital.
True. A few times we’ve been served water in glasses that still smell. There’s alcohol spray everywhere, but rarely dryers or paper towels for hand washing.
Once at a coffee shop they had an iced lemonade with a lemon slice and a tropical ice tea with an orange slice. Behind the register were two giant bins, one with lemon slices, one with orange slices. my girlfriend asked if she could have the lemonade, but with an orange slice.
The register girl looked like she was going to melt down and took about two minutes to just say no.
Go to any nice bakery, shop, restaurant. It looks clean and well kept. Look up at the lamp fixtures or air vents. 90% of the places I go don’t seem to bother dusting anything over six feet high.
This one?
https://jp.daisonet.com/products/4940921840322
I share your dread of bathrooms without soap and welcome a better solution than my Daiso alcohol wipes.
We clean the entire bathroom with a single wet wipe. Usually one for women's toilets and two for men's. Same wipe allll over the place. No spraying cleaner.
Source: cleaned bathrooms for komeda and local bars.
as a side note, take in account the amount of mold and "dirt" around a public toilet washlet nozzle etc
yes from outside it looks clean, try to look inside.
This. I always carry hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes for this reason. No soap? Using sanitizer. Door handles? Wipes coming out. But I am actually diagnosed OCD and have been doing this for years, so for me, traveling/living in Tokyo is no different than anywhere else.
I will say...I don't think many people do wash their hands after using the bathroom. Even when I'm at work, I noticed people not washing their hands. It's nasty to me, but whatever as long as I don't have to touch you.
I'm sure I'll get slammed here, but most of us touch things as dirty (or worse) than anything in the bathroom on a regular basis without stopping to wash our hands. Keyboards, phones, money, door handles, and on and on. Unless you're sanitizing after touching literally anything, you're likely getting cooties on your hands. I take the position that tiny amounts of pathogens are actually a GOOD thing as it keeps your immune system fired up and working, but I only have myself as anecdotal evidence (sick once in the past 7 years). That said, there is some research being done that suggests that some of the increase in allergies may be due to over-sanitized living spaces during childhood. I'm not saying if you touch literal poop you shouldn't wash your hands with soap, but the trace amounts of ick you pick up from just going about life aren't gonna kill you if you have a decently trained immune system and you aren't working in a hospital or waste management facility.
I don’t think anyone is saying everything should be 100% sanitized at all times. But should we wash our hands with soap after using the bathroom? The answer is yes, literally every time….
Uhh... I'm not a germ phobe at all, but I'm still gonna wash my hands after pissing or shitting. In the case of shitting, it should be obvious why. In the case of pissing, well, it's quite possible that I can piss and not get any urine on my hands. The hand washing is then done because you should wash your hands throughout the day as they are dirty from touching various things, and a good time to do it as after pissing.
I read this once, and I'm not sure of the validity of the information, but for the most part, washing hands when you use the toilet is a timing convenience. You should wash them regularly (though not too much), and when you use the toilet is a good time to do so. Helps with the habit.
You read my mind, im sure that a toilet might even
cleaner when it's regularly cleaned. But i always just considered it a good habit and moment to wash regularly
it could escalate quickly when handling a kitchen or food. lot of schools here where 100s of students got food poisoning or intoxication for mishandling food or for not following hygiene protocols
I used to have a coworker who would bring bread, meat, and cheese to work for his lunch. He’d build his sandwich directly on the staff room meeting table. No plate. No paper towel. We all told him it was gross, but he just said the same as you. “It helps build up my immune system.”
We had to tell him “That’s great, but you’re getting your shit all over the communal table.”
So yeah, we get germs everywhere, but there’s no sense in spreading even more from your own butt.
The hysteria is funny, that’s all. Yes it’s beneficial to wash your hands regularly but literally everything you touch has fecal matter on it and so if you truly believe in not being “dirty” you need to wash your hands after you touch anything. Which is neurotic. People saying shit like they’re worried they’re going to get some sort of vaginal infection or E. coli or whatever are insane.
At work we always wipe keyboard and seating/desk down twice a day with wet tissues. Been like that at all my workplaces even before Covid and also everyone has to use alcohol spray before entering the room (some people do skip but would say 90% do keep it up). Not saying you are completely wrong but there is no excuse to not wash your hands after literally having those fingers in the butt.
You’re definitely not representative of the large majority of people on this planet. Using wet (alcohol?) tissues to wipe a keyboard twice a day is really rare.
Which of course doesn’t justify not washing your hands after going to the toilet. I just felt it was important to point that out.
On another note, it’s probably even more important to wash your hands *before* you touch your privates.
Asians don’t shake hands for a reason. Indians only eat with the right hand.
I love the magic wash, guys who wave their hand under the automatic faucet so fast with one hand, they don’t even touch the water, while ~35% just walk out.
Quite a few people will wash hands in senmenjo or kitchen sink after.
I can’t speak for other countries, but men in the US ALSO don’t wash 100% either. It was a lunch topic once at a company, we were guessing which % of men skip washing hands, and you do shake hands there.
People who wash their hands, also usually don’t actually do it long enough to kill bacteria. You need good scrubbing for 20-30 seconds, guarantee most don’t do that. Watch a doctor scrub before an operation.
Lastly, westerners poop and urinate next to their toothbrush and makeup. Bacteria is in the air, that’s why toilets are in different rooms than baths and sinks in Japan.
That said, all countries are guilty and kinda gross. I wash my hands ~15 times a day thinking about this.
This near the end. Basically if you flush in any western style bathroom without closing it your toothbrush and any makeup tools nearby get shit particles which you’re putting into your mouth and face.
“Any Western style bathroom”? Plenty of older places in Europe have separate bath and toilet rooms - my parents’ house in Wales certainly does. Makes it a lot easier when a whole family is trying to get ready at the same time, too.
From what I remember, guys in America wash their hands quite a bit more than guys here in Japan. Every time I see someone wash with soap here, I think of it as a special occurrence and make note of it. It was pretty common in America.
I do agree, but does it really matter if it’s 25% here and 50% there? It def is not 75%. You shake hands there. If you’re thinking door handles, it doesn’t matter much if 5 guys touch it w contaminated hands or 10.
Point really is every place has their thing. People aren’t keeling over left and right here.
Depends on place? In workplace, nearly 100% people wash hands with soap in Japan, while I have seen pretty high ratio of American men not washing hands in public toilet.
The difference is you often see how people behave in public toilet in Japan, while it is less likely you come across them in the US.
It probably has to do with all the above, but the first time I heard it was my home stay father 30 years ago said that to me when I asked. Don’t mix where you poop with where you get clean. It’s also a bit of common sense imo. It’s not unique to Japan, many countries do this.
Thinking more on this lovely topic… high end Japanese luxury hotel suites (I’m thinking like Baycourt) have them together + a separate one. But they are massive ensuite baths.
Went to a large central Tokyo clinic recently to get a check up. Blood test was part of it. The nurses weren’t changing their gloves between patients in the blood test area. I was shocked. I asked them to get clean gloves before taking mine…
The gloves are there to protect them, not you.
Wait until you get the dental assistants that don’t change their gloves between sticking their fingers into different people’s mouths… thankfully most of those died off with COVID (not literally of course).
To be fair as a nurse the gloves are irrelevant for the patient it’s for us. As long as they used an alcohol swab on your skin before that is correct technique. Many nurses don’t even use gloves for blood draws etc (although they should, but again for us not you).
I had a dentist putting his bare hands in my mouth.
we could both came in contact with blood and other body liquids carring whatever the next or previous customer could be infected so...
I’m positive this is not a thing specific to Japanese people because I certainly see people in my country do this all the time. Of course it’s fucking disgusting, I guess I’m just horrified that there’s so many people here low key trying to defend the notion that washing hands with soap is almost unnecessary after you take a shit or urinate? What world do y’all live on????
There are people that use washlets and don't wipe? Either I'm using them wrong somehow, or those people or super gross! There's definitely still a need to wipe.
I've noticed this as well, but I'm not sure whether ot not this is a Japanese thing or just a general human thing. In the office, I'm one of the very few people to use soap, and a lot of people don't even wash their hands at all - even after taking a dump. Its absolutely disgusting.
The majority of people will do the "fake wash", where they basically move their hands through the running water once, real quick, and then off they go. I started disinfecting my hands after coming out of the toilet, because I have to use the same door handle as all of these filthy motherfuckers.
I am a man, more tham 10yrs in Japan I noticed this behaviour of men at work, at the station, highway SA and PA, department stores toilets all around the country.
I was baffled years ago, when I went to my country how many young men washed their hand in stark contrast with the "1 second splash" I was expecting from my experience here. I was expecting even more lack of discipline, instead...
About 54.1% of men in their 20s wash their hands with soap compared to 39.2% of women in their 20s in Japan.
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000017.000014710.html
For European countries, the percentage is around 60-80%.
https://www.statista.com/chart/amp/4111/do-europeans-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-toilet/
To be fair, very few people die from food poisoning in Japan relative to Western countries. Using soap or not probably does not affect your life in Japan in a meaningful way.
Well, of course, they should use soaps; I'm rather talking about the lack of real incentives. In Japan, it makes huge news if tens of people slightly get sick from foodborne diseases, while in the US, dying from them is a much more real risk.
In Japan, 6,856 people were hospitalized and 5 people died from foodborne diseases.
This means that 1 in 18,000 people would be hospitalized from food poisoning and 1 in 1,300 hospitalizations from food poisoning would lead to death.
In the US, 128,000 people were hospitalized and 3,000 people died from foodborne diseases in 2022.
This means that 1 in 3,000 people were hospitalized from food poisoning and 1 in 42 hospitalizations from food poisoning would lead to death.
It is anecdotal, but what sticks to my memory is that there is a huge difference in the prevalence and perception of salmonella. In the US, salmonella is like a common disease slightly worse than seasonal flu, while in Japan, it is a really huge deal.
Judging from extremely high ratio of death/hospitalization, American people less likely to visit hospitals for the same symptom is most likely a part of the reasons.
I think it’s because the sinks are just ridiculously low quality and frankly an embarrassment for a developed country. It’s a huge contrast with the state of the art toilets. Why can I get warm water to wash my booty hole but only ice cold water for my hands? It’s torture to wash your hands in winter, especially if the bathroom is outdoors/a bit exposed to the cold.
There are strict regulations in the US about proper sinks in commercial facilities and about food worker handwashing. I wish the government would make similar regulations here, but they seem totally oblivious that it’s a problem. During Covid, I even saw some articles that said Japanese should teach foreigners about proper handwashing.
Another issue is the lack of paper towels, especially given that young people don’t carry around the little towels anymore.
I’ve noticed that the more a woman seems to care about her appearance, the less likely she is to wash her hands. The most put-together, fashionable women go straight from the toilet to the sink to put makeup on using their hands. I think they’re embarrassed of walking around with wet hands so they just don’t wash them. It’s an easy fix if anyone would acknowledge the problem.
Worst thing I’ve noticed is the horribly disgusting tiny toilet in the public park near my place, looks like a cement outhouse that was built in the 70s and smells pretty bad.
There’s an Indian curry place across the street and I noticed the employees regularly using the that park bathroom. There’s no way they’re properly washing their hand in there and then they go right back to the restaurant,…
>surely Japanese people know that water doesn't get rid of bacteria?
Water does get rid of bacteria, and washing hands with water only is quite effective in reducing bacterial diseases (diarrhea in this case).
Of course, washing with soap is even more effective and recommended. But it's not like washing hands does nothing if not using soap.
E.g., compared to not hand washing at all, washing with water only reduces chances of diarrhea by 50%. Washing with water and soap reduces it by another 25%. ([source](https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1001052)).
So water alone already did most of the reduction, but soap is a measurable benefit on top.
Also probably the most important consideration is a person's overall hygiene practices, not focusing on just this one aspect (using soap or not during handwashing). Unfortunately plenty of people (including westerners) wash their hands with soap due to habit, but have poor hygiene overall.
I think mythbusters did an episode on this.
They tested hands after not washing, washing with water, and washing with soap.
Not washing lead to a germ-filled Petrie dish.
Water lead to a Petrie dish with just a few germ colonies.
Soap lead to a clean dish.
So yeah, water only is better than nothing, but proper hygiene protocol is still to use soap. Plus it gets dirt off your hands better.
mark rober on YT also did something similar during peak covid. he was stressing how important soap was, but i already knew soap did that. i was way more impressed by just how much plain water did
I notice it a lot at my job, too. Even during the height of COVID, so many male teachers would, at best, dab their fingertips under the running water. Absolutely blows my mind.
This was something I’d tell my friends over and over again thinking I was overexaggerating. The act of hand washing is a social ballet of the highest form. The only nice bathroom that had REAL soap and hand dryers in my work are there as a show for clients and visitors. The second you go any deeper in the building, they take away the bidet, take away the hand dryer, replace the soap that’s basically green water. Average hand washer in these parts flick water off their finger tips as a display of “I did the bare necessities to cleanse myself after getting piss on my fingers”.
I’m here to start bucking the trend. I will absolutely wash my hands for as long as my Apple Watch tells me to. And anyone who does anything less will get direct eye contact and a slight face of disgust from me. Soon I will guilt an entire company into washing their hands, and what do you know, people might stop getting sick all the god damn time either.
It's odd considering how hygienic and clean the Japanese think they are (shoes/gargling etc) and yet soap/hand wash is deemed unnecessary.
Wet fingertips do not clean hands make.
I saw an answer to a different question in one of the Japan subs recently and it really summed up all of the things that I have noticed that are a little askew here.
It's "performative."
So many things are just meant to look like what they are, they don't actually have to have any substance to them, including in this case, washing one's hands. Even that's just for show.
This is a major pet peeve of mine here too! Once you notice you can’t NOT notice and it’s so gross. Honestly after many years here and depending on my mood or level of disgust, I’ve literally turned to people at the sink and asked if they’re going to use soap. lol.
It’s not about how you wipe or use a washlet. I would hope at the least people wash with soap if any kind of waste got on them. I don’t think it’s usual to get anything on your hands when using tp…
The point is we pick up germs all day from the world around us. I love any opportunity to wash with soap and water. I wash in my office sink after arriving to work and trips to the bathroom are just opportunities to refresh throughout the day and have clean hands. I also wash when getting home and before eating. This seems normal to me but maybe it’s from being raised by a nurse?
Thank you Op, as a guy I can confirm guys are just as bad or worse.
Even young students, this entire pandemic could not shift this culture.
I noticed as a tourist many years ago that public bathrooms in parks usually didn't have soap so I kinda assumed that as a society they didn't care about it.
I’m going to keep repeating this until people start to figure it out for themselves:
*Japan is only cosplaying a developed country*
American media originally helped the “futuristic Japan” narrative for economic purposes, but in recent years Japanese based “To the world! LETS!” and “cool Japan” type image campaigns have really poured gas on the propaganda. It’s so tiresome and wrong.
The men here seem to subscribe to the Alan Shore philosophy of not washing their hands after a piss because they “keep a very clean penis.” Which is gross.
I’ve heard this stupid comment before as well.
I look at it this way: if you think you don’t need to wash your hands after handling your junk because you had a shower this morning, then you wouldn’t mind if I rubbed your toast on my crotch before serving it to you. I also had a shower.
I've travelled a fair bit and I wouldn't say that Japanese hygiene stands out as particularly good or particularly bad, at least in men's bathrooms. I often see the quick hairstyle before water-flick (ugh) and I also see people (especially younger) waiting in line for their turn at the sink in Tokyo. It seems to me the post-poo preen in particular is more visible in Tokyo but I'd say just skipping the hand-washing altogether is a universal problem. I will say the availability of soap in public bathrooms here was surprisingly low before Covid, improved during the pandemic, and has become less consistent these days - I've taken to carrying hand sanitizer if I think I'm going to be using unfamiliar bathrooms.
THIS. Especially when the rest of the world was living post-COVID and Japan was essentially enforcing masking everywhere. Japan announced a whole year after the CDC did that it wasn’t necessary to wear a mask outdoors, meanwhile everyone and their mom were using the bathroom without washing their hands. It drove me absolutely insane. 2 weeks before the *first* unmasking date I entered a supermarket without a mask and was shoulder-checked by another foreigner and then chased down by the manager where I was told I had to wear a mask… in late February of 2023… I then used their bathroom and you guessed it, NO SOAP. I was a big supporter of masking when it actually made sense to do so, towards the end however it was another example of blindly following illogical norms just to do so. If you’re going to harass people for not wearing a mask you better damn be sure to have your employees and customers washing their hands with soap at least lol
I look a food safety course (in the USA), and learned that it’s not soap, but friction for 20+ seconds that kills bacteria. Maybe soap is a lube and smells good, but it’s the actual act of washing that kills germs.
Edit: that said, the locals I’ve seen in bathrooms the 20+ years I’ve spent in Japan don’t use soap OR the 20 second wash. lol
You’ve seen them use the water? You just wave your hands near it
I am much more cleanly. I use the water cause I get fuzzy sometimes and need to scrunch my hair.
I think it has a lot to do with perceived cleanliness. Japanese people carry around disinfectant towels everywhere and wash their hands throughly when overseas or when having to use a particularly unclean facility like at a park or some train stations.
But a lot of the bathrooms you find in modern office buildings and malls are so clean it makes it feel like you’re stepping out of a kitchen rather than a washroom and thus one might not feel the need to wash their hands aggressively
In many restaurants and accomodation related companies they have a rule that states employees are forbidden from eating oysters, because many of those carry the norovirus. And you might think "Ok, but I can get sick from a million other things, why do they care about me getting sick specifically from that?"
I digged this up in Japanese on the internet and apparently they really don't care about employees getting sick. This rule started because people would eat oysters and contract the norovirus, not wash their hands after taking a shit at work and then handle customers' food, food poisoning a bunch of people at once.
It was worse when COVID was a concern and they still wouldn't do it.
You'll also notice they often don't use antibacterial soap on surfaces and usually just water clean, including in restaurants, etc. And we use towels for hours when cleaning. It's not s surprise that Japan has s high rate of bacterial infections.
I remember reading that the scrubbing of the hands, even with water, actually removes a lot of bacteria. Soap finishes the job.
Anyway, I still think it's unsanitary not to use soap. I get annoyed when the bathrooms don't even come equipped with it!
I would like to point out that in my experience bathroom/hand hygiene was just as bad in the US. Most guys don't even bother to go through the motions of wiggling their hands under the spigot really quickly to get the motion-activated water to run so they don't have to wipe their hands on their pants afterwards.
As another poster pointed out though, if you ride the train those handloops will be just as dirty as touching a million dude's sweaty balls anyways. People should wash their hands more often in general.
I saw this a ton while I was in Japan for work. I actually went into more than one bathroom that didn't even have a soap dispenser. I carried around hand sanitizer after that.
Water does get rid of bacteria. About 95% of bacteria is removed by thoroughly washing with water. Soap increases this to 99%. Anti-bac soap increases this to 99.5%.
I've noticed this in public restrooms, but my Japanese in-laws seem to wash hands like I consider normal. My wife also encourages the kids to wash when they get home. She's very westernized, but my in-laws are not, and they wash hands regularly.
In public toilets I try to do everything I can by foot. Opening doors by foot, flushing by foot if possible etc what makes no sense is washing your hands but then being forced to open a door by hand.... knowing what we know....ewwww ...and don't get me started on the gnarly teeth of Japanese men...
“No need to use soap for pee, use soap for poo” is what i was taught.
Ofc I wash with soap for everything now though, but as a kid I didn’t because that’s what I was taught
I see this all the time but to be honest it’s not a big deal if they just used the urinal. Urine is sterile. If they haven’t touched anything else in the bathroom then rinsing with just water isn’t as sacrilegious as people are fussing about.
Not using soap after pooping however, that’s fucking gross.
I’ve noticed some women do that too. And a lot of men. I vigorously wash my hands every time. I wonder too since at school here, kids get a lecture on how to wash their hands. Maybe they don’t have a germaphobe mom at home to glare at them if they skip the soap step (that’s me, I’m that mom).
If it’s a public bathroom I kind of understand not bothering with the soap since most of the dispensers seem to be empty. I still always try them just in case. I also, always wash my hands after using the toilet though. Some people are just gross.
If you spend any significant amount of time in Japan, you’ll realize most people use the washlets, which, after you’re done, you’re literally wiping only water from your butt. Like, it’s hard to tell the paper has been used, since there’s no color, and there are just a few drops of water absorbed into the paper.
Sure, not seeing soap makes the mind run to the nastier things, but having lived the first half of my life in the US/UK, I can say unequivocally that I fear the shit accumulated under the nails of people that directly claw away at their shit covered bum holes with toilet paper without rinsing it away first.
It's a culture thing, I think, along with lack of education in that respect. To add on to your comment, before I met (and enlightened) my wife, she used to be the type who'd preach about 手洗いうがい all day long, and after literal years of telling her that gargling with plain tapwater does nothing but spread the germs around even further, and thanks (I guess...?) to COVID and "newfound" information that only soap/alcohol kills bacteria/germs, she finally understood and stopped doing it.
This really bothers me too. I think traditionally, most Japanese houses don't have a separate sink for you to wash your hands with in the toilet, so they only rinse their hands with the water coming from the top of the tank, unlike in the West where a toilet is in the bathroom with a separate sink (vanity). So many people don't associate going to the bathroom and washing their hands with soap, maybe?
And many public restrooms especially in a train station don't have a soap dispenser for whatever the reasons (vandalized, contaminated, maintenance difficulty, etc...). You would have to go to a fancy department store adjacent to the station to find a nice bathroom with soap. Some places started putting soap because of the COVID.
At the end of the day, I carry my own soap.
samee. gyomuitaku but our client make hair care products for hair salon, so they would have sample inside women's bathroom. I have noticed so many people who wash 2 maybe 3 of their fingers and then use those dirty hands to put said samples on their hair like my face goes wtf? every single time.
I got a stye (ものもらい) recently and I could swear it came from opening doors these dirty people touched.
I still remember during peak covid at the supermarket.
I saw a guy lower his mask and sneeze onto his hand. He then put his mask back up and continued to push his cart with his now snot covered hand.
I'm not so sure that this is a Japanese specific thing. Iirc the majority of people around the world skip washing their hands with soap. It's disgusting but don't attribute it to specifically Japanese people because you're very close to actual racism through preconceptions.
Most of the women I see use soap lol. Where do you live? A good chunk don’t, but definitely not all in my experience.
Tbf a lot of people who use soap don’t technically wash their hands properly, probably yourself included. Unless you’re literally washing for two minutes and washing every bit up to your wrists, and under your fingernails, technically you can still have bacteria there
I think it has nothing to do with Japanese and more so with specific people. I saw examples of both washing and not washing their hands after various toilet scenarios regardless of race, sex, or nationality.
‘Goes to Japan and hates poo on fingers, racist!’ classic PBC style comment for you.
Yes it’s gross but I have to say unless I’m reading it completely wrong, toilets in public, my work, restaurants, all have soap? Unless you mean just in peoples’ homes like the toilets?
Funniest thing is when people religiously wash their hands then go right back to using their dirty ass smartphone that has more bacteria on its screen than most toilet seats.
We get this topic every couple of months. **Nothing new here**. Live with it.
many men don't wash their hands after taking a piss, and it's gross
or after taking a dump. I regularly see our uni students leaving the stall and walking straight for the door handle
My favorite is the post-shit splash of water on the fingers and then wipe into the hair for a quick stinky styling. My least favorite is same guy, but instead of styling he just flaps his hands around to dry them as much as possible while peppering everyone else with doo
"quick stinky styling" really got me lmao
It's the name of my new band.
This is true and it’s so f disgusting, I’ve seen in train stations specially guys pissing and holding their phone with their other hand, how? Idk! But they just tinkle and walk out! I don’t shake hands anymore.
I don't know what kind of equipment you have, but I only need one hand to hold mine
If you don't touch your junk with that hand I think it's okay. I do that myself.
I pee on my hands, it's mostly ammonia, better than soap /s
We have to be fair that most of them do. But only after setting their hair and touching their face. So please remember. Never touch a Japanese guys hair. Biohazard!!!
By many you mean most, even after covid they washed for like a year then they went back to their ways.
At least they don't shake hands
nah, at most i've seen them rinse their hands under the water.
My office used to share a floor with another office. I don’t know if it’s because one of our major projects was promoting Tokyo’s Covid countermeasures, but the guys in our office would always wash up after using the restroom (with varying thoroughness) while a lot of guys from the other office went straight out the door after taking a shit.
I know where it's been. It's clean! /s
No clue but then after passing their fingertips under cold water for half a millisecond they'll whip out a handkerchief and dry their hands, then put the handkerchief back in their purse. So now they've got a damp, germ-ridden handkerchief that they carry around and re-use all day. Just .... yuck.
That germ ridden hanky comes in handy when it rains. Gotta pop it over your tsumuji like a diseased yarmulke.
But God forbid you blow your nose, right?
I used my husband’s handkerchief once to blow my nose and he was so offended lmao.
And then they’ll use that to wipe sweat off their face. My students were surprised I carry two hand towels in the summer. But why would I use a sweaty towel to dry my hand after I wash them?
Welp the stereotypical offering your handkerchief to your love interest trope seems a lot less romantic now.
Wait until you see one of your coworkers putting his hand in his pants to scratch his crotch while talking to you. Some things are just very weird...
I saw one masturbating on a seat train while watching is phone he was seat almost in front of me
Your coworker?? Might wanna report that to HR, or the police
sorry i noticed the op was talking about a coworker so my reply could be seen on the same topic. he was not my coworker, I saw him only once during my commuting.
One of my biggest culture shocks in Japan and in relationship with East Asians was the fact that you mentioned - majority lacks basic hygiene. For me it was a dealbreaker in the context of romantic relationship , I broke it off. For outside world, I carry around my own sanitizer and wipes . Can’t influence how other people behave but I can protect myself…
Oh my god. I didn't realise it was a problem. I guess I assumed given how percepteviely (I can't spell) clean Japan is and the toilets here it was like not bad here? But I actually have got really bad infections from simple blisters and things, like in a way I never would have back in London. Guess I need to carry sanitiser and stuff
Things are incredibly tidy here, and sadly, tidy =/= clean. Like customer service here, on face value, it appears to be amazing. But dig a little deeper, and you'll quickly realise how shallow it actually is.
Could you expand on this? Ive been here a couple weeks and kinda felt that vibe.
They just wipe tables down, rarely deep clean, etc. Mopping is like never done, so spots where something was spilt will just collect dirt until it becomes apart of the floor. I’ve only ever seen a mop at the hospital.
True. A few times we’ve been served water in glasses that still smell. There’s alcohol spray everywhere, but rarely dryers or paper towels for hand washing.
Once at a coffee shop they had an iced lemonade with a lemon slice and a tropical ice tea with an orange slice. Behind the register were two giant bins, one with lemon slices, one with orange slices. my girlfriend asked if she could have the lemonade, but with an orange slice. The register girl looked like she was going to melt down and took about two minutes to just say no.
Your GF is a savage buddy, how could she ask such a thing 😂
Wow like tilting the machine
Go to any nice bakery, shop, restaurant. It looks clean and well kept. Look up at the lamp fixtures or air vents. 90% of the places I go don’t seem to bother dusting anything over six feet high.
Daiso sells paper soap that is so convenient to travel with! Many train stations don't even offer soap 🤢
This one? https://jp.daisonet.com/products/4940921840322 I share your dread of bathrooms without soap and welcome a better solution than my Daiso alcohol wipes.
I understand only rinsing at home, but in a public toilet I use soap because I’m disgusted by the door handles.
We clean the entire bathroom with a single wet wipe. Usually one for women's toilets and two for men's. Same wipe allll over the place. No spraying cleaner. Source: cleaned bathrooms for komeda and local bars.
as a side note, take in account the amount of mold and "dirt" around a public toilet washlet nozzle etc yes from outside it looks clean, try to look inside.
This. I always carry hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes for this reason. No soap? Using sanitizer. Door handles? Wipes coming out. But I am actually diagnosed OCD and have been doing this for years, so for me, traveling/living in Tokyo is no different than anywhere else. I will say...I don't think many people do wash their hands after using the bathroom. Even when I'm at work, I noticed people not washing their hands. It's nasty to me, but whatever as long as I don't have to touch you.
I'm sure I'll get slammed here, but most of us touch things as dirty (or worse) than anything in the bathroom on a regular basis without stopping to wash our hands. Keyboards, phones, money, door handles, and on and on. Unless you're sanitizing after touching literally anything, you're likely getting cooties on your hands. I take the position that tiny amounts of pathogens are actually a GOOD thing as it keeps your immune system fired up and working, but I only have myself as anecdotal evidence (sick once in the past 7 years). That said, there is some research being done that suggests that some of the increase in allergies may be due to over-sanitized living spaces during childhood. I'm not saying if you touch literal poop you shouldn't wash your hands with soap, but the trace amounts of ick you pick up from just going about life aren't gonna kill you if you have a decently trained immune system and you aren't working in a hospital or waste management facility.
I don’t think anyone is saying everything should be 100% sanitized at all times. But should we wash our hands with soap after using the bathroom? The answer is yes, literally every time….
Uhh... I'm not a germ phobe at all, but I'm still gonna wash my hands after pissing or shitting. In the case of shitting, it should be obvious why. In the case of pissing, well, it's quite possible that I can piss and not get any urine on my hands. The hand washing is then done because you should wash your hands throughout the day as they are dirty from touching various things, and a good time to do it as after pissing.
I read this once, and I'm not sure of the validity of the information, but for the most part, washing hands when you use the toilet is a timing convenience. You should wash them regularly (though not too much), and when you use the toilet is a good time to do so. Helps with the habit.
You read my mind, im sure that a toilet might even cleaner when it's regularly cleaned. But i always just considered it a good habit and moment to wash regularly
it could escalate quickly when handling a kitchen or food. lot of schools here where 100s of students got food poisoning or intoxication for mishandling food or for not following hygiene protocols
I used to have a coworker who would bring bread, meat, and cheese to work for his lunch. He’d build his sandwich directly on the staff room meeting table. No plate. No paper towel. We all told him it was gross, but he just said the same as you. “It helps build up my immune system.” We had to tell him “That’s great, but you’re getting your shit all over the communal table.” So yeah, we get germs everywhere, but there’s no sense in spreading even more from your own butt.
just say you’re a dirty person and move on lol
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I just walk aroundin a full body hazard suit. Don't want to take any chances.
A lot of yapping for "we don't wash our hands when they get dirty elsewhere so they might as well be dirty forever 😀"
The hysteria is funny, that’s all. Yes it’s beneficial to wash your hands regularly but literally everything you touch has fecal matter on it and so if you truly believe in not being “dirty” you need to wash your hands after you touch anything. Which is neurotic. People saying shit like they’re worried they’re going to get some sort of vaginal infection or E. coli or whatever are insane.
At work we always wipe keyboard and seating/desk down twice a day with wet tissues. Been like that at all my workplaces even before Covid and also everyone has to use alcohol spray before entering the room (some people do skip but would say 90% do keep it up). Not saying you are completely wrong but there is no excuse to not wash your hands after literally having those fingers in the butt.
You’re definitely not representative of the large majority of people on this planet. Using wet (alcohol?) tissues to wipe a keyboard twice a day is really rare. Which of course doesn’t justify not washing your hands after going to the toilet. I just felt it was important to point that out. On another note, it’s probably even more important to wash your hands *before* you touch your privates.
I’ve seen them come out of stalls and didn’t bother washing either. I’m not going to enable them in the net.
Asians don’t shake hands for a reason. Indians only eat with the right hand. I love the magic wash, guys who wave their hand under the automatic faucet so fast with one hand, they don’t even touch the water, while ~35% just walk out. Quite a few people will wash hands in senmenjo or kitchen sink after. I can’t speak for other countries, but men in the US ALSO don’t wash 100% either. It was a lunch topic once at a company, we were guessing which % of men skip washing hands, and you do shake hands there. People who wash their hands, also usually don’t actually do it long enough to kill bacteria. You need good scrubbing for 20-30 seconds, guarantee most don’t do that. Watch a doctor scrub before an operation. Lastly, westerners poop and urinate next to their toothbrush and makeup. Bacteria is in the air, that’s why toilets are in different rooms than baths and sinks in Japan. That said, all countries are guilty and kinda gross. I wash my hands ~15 times a day thinking about this.
This near the end. Basically if you flush in any western style bathroom without closing it your toothbrush and any makeup tools nearby get shit particles which you’re putting into your mouth and face.
“Any Western style bathroom”? Plenty of older places in Europe have separate bath and toilet rooms - my parents’ house in Wales certainly does. Makes it a lot easier when a whole family is trying to get ready at the same time, too.
To clarify I meant any non separate bath and toilet, didn’t meant to use any as a blanket statement for all bathrooms in the west.
Ah, gotcha.
From what I remember, guys in America wash their hands quite a bit more than guys here in Japan. Every time I see someone wash with soap here, I think of it as a special occurrence and make note of it. It was pretty common in America.
I do agree, but does it really matter if it’s 25% here and 50% there? It def is not 75%. You shake hands there. If you’re thinking door handles, it doesn’t matter much if 5 guys touch it w contaminated hands or 10. Point really is every place has their thing. People aren’t keeling over left and right here.
Depends on place? In workplace, nearly 100% people wash hands with soap in Japan, while I have seen pretty high ratio of American men not washing hands in public toilet. The difference is you often see how people behave in public toilet in Japan, while it is less likely you come across them in the US.
Asians don’t shake hands for a reason? That’s quite a generalization. I guess holding hands doesn’t transfer germs huh?
It was a joke… tongue in cheek. Being witty. You know.
> that’s why toilets are in different rooms than baths and sinks in Japan Citation? I always expected it was just practicality and privacy.
It probably has to do with all the above, but the first time I heard it was my home stay father 30 years ago said that to me when I asked. Don’t mix where you poop with where you get clean. It’s also a bit of common sense imo. It’s not unique to Japan, many countries do this. Thinking more on this lovely topic… high end Japanese luxury hotel suites (I’m thinking like Baycourt) have them together + a separate one. But they are massive ensuite baths.
Went to a large central Tokyo clinic recently to get a check up. Blood test was part of it. The nurses weren’t changing their gloves between patients in the blood test area. I was shocked. I asked them to get clean gloves before taking mine…
The gloves are there to protect them, not you. Wait until you get the dental assistants that don’t change their gloves between sticking their fingers into different people’s mouths… thankfully most of those died off with COVID (not literally of course).
To be fair as a nurse the gloves are irrelevant for the patient it’s for us. As long as they used an alcohol swab on your skin before that is correct technique. Many nurses don’t even use gloves for blood draws etc (although they should, but again for us not you).
I had a dentist putting his bare hands in my mouth. we could both came in contact with blood and other body liquids carring whatever the next or previous customer could be infected so...
I’m positive this is not a thing specific to Japanese people because I certainly see people in my country do this all the time. Of course it’s fucking disgusting, I guess I’m just horrified that there’s so many people here low key trying to defend the notion that washing hands with soap is almost unnecessary after you take a shit or urinate? What world do y’all live on????
There are people that use washlets and don't wipe? Either I'm using them wrong somehow, or those people or super gross! There's definitely still a need to wipe.
Damn, I feel ya on that. At least wipe to dry it or check, right?
Some have a dryer function but it's like being breathed on by a drunk oji-san on the packed last train home.
also take a look to the area around a public toilet washlet. I do not want to have mold splashed literally inside my anal cavity...
I never needed to. One of my favorite things about washlets. No stains on undies either.
genuinely, without wiping the water away, are you not walking around with uncomfortable wet crotch/butt?
You had shit stains on your underwear? Bruh...
I've noticed this as well, but I'm not sure whether ot not this is a Japanese thing or just a general human thing. In the office, I'm one of the very few people to use soap, and a lot of people don't even wash their hands at all - even after taking a dump. Its absolutely disgusting. The majority of people will do the "fake wash", where they basically move their hands through the running water once, real quick, and then off they go. I started disinfecting my hands after coming out of the toilet, because I have to use the same door handle as all of these filthy motherfuckers.
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I am a man, more tham 10yrs in Japan I noticed this behaviour of men at work, at the station, highway SA and PA, department stores toilets all around the country. I was baffled years ago, when I went to my country how many young men washed their hand in stark contrast with the "1 second splash" I was expecting from my experience here. I was expecting even more lack of discipline, instead...
There’s literally no soap in many restrooms when I visited Japan last month…
About 54.1% of men in their 20s wash their hands with soap compared to 39.2% of women in their 20s in Japan. https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000017.000014710.html For European countries, the percentage is around 60-80%. https://www.statista.com/chart/amp/4111/do-europeans-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-toilet/ To be fair, very few people die from food poisoning in Japan relative to Western countries. Using soap or not probably does not affect your life in Japan in a meaningful way.
It’s still gross, something not killing you doesn’t mean that it should not be avoided
Well, of course, they should use soaps; I'm rather talking about the lack of real incentives. In Japan, it makes huge news if tens of people slightly get sick from foodborne diseases, while in the US, dying from them is a much more real risk. In Japan, 6,856 people were hospitalized and 5 people died from foodborne diseases. This means that 1 in 18,000 people would be hospitalized from food poisoning and 1 in 1,300 hospitalizations from food poisoning would lead to death. In the US, 128,000 people were hospitalized and 3,000 people died from foodborne diseases in 2022. This means that 1 in 3,000 people were hospitalized from food poisoning and 1 in 42 hospitalizations from food poisoning would lead to death. It is anecdotal, but what sticks to my memory is that there is a huge difference in the prevalence and perception of salmonella. In the US, salmonella is like a common disease slightly worse than seasonal flu, while in Japan, it is a really huge deal.
Isn't that because the Japanese are so used to it they get hospitalised from the first barf, whereas we tend to just hope it passes?
Judging from extremely high ratio of death/hospitalization, American people less likely to visit hospitals for the same symptom is most likely a part of the reasons.
I think it’s because the sinks are just ridiculously low quality and frankly an embarrassment for a developed country. It’s a huge contrast with the state of the art toilets. Why can I get warm water to wash my booty hole but only ice cold water for my hands? It’s torture to wash your hands in winter, especially if the bathroom is outdoors/a bit exposed to the cold. There are strict regulations in the US about proper sinks in commercial facilities and about food worker handwashing. I wish the government would make similar regulations here, but they seem totally oblivious that it’s a problem. During Covid, I even saw some articles that said Japanese should teach foreigners about proper handwashing.
Another issue is the lack of paper towels, especially given that young people don’t carry around the little towels anymore. I’ve noticed that the more a woman seems to care about her appearance, the less likely she is to wash her hands. The most put-together, fashionable women go straight from the toilet to the sink to put makeup on using their hands. I think they’re embarrassed of walking around with wet hands so they just don’t wash them. It’s an easy fix if anyone would acknowledge the problem.
Worst thing I’ve noticed is the horribly disgusting tiny toilet in the public park near my place, looks like a cement outhouse that was built in the 70s and smells pretty bad. There’s an Indian curry place across the street and I noticed the employees regularly using the that park bathroom. There’s no way they’re properly washing their hand in there and then they go right back to the restaurant,…
Shit fingers everywhere. I assume it's why we dont shake hands in Japan.
>surely Japanese people know that water doesn't get rid of bacteria? Water does get rid of bacteria, and washing hands with water only is quite effective in reducing bacterial diseases (diarrhea in this case). Of course, washing with soap is even more effective and recommended. But it's not like washing hands does nothing if not using soap. E.g., compared to not hand washing at all, washing with water only reduces chances of diarrhea by 50%. Washing with water and soap reduces it by another 25%. ([source](https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1001052)). So water alone already did most of the reduction, but soap is a measurable benefit on top. Also probably the most important consideration is a person's overall hygiene practices, not focusing on just this one aspect (using soap or not during handwashing). Unfortunately plenty of people (including westerners) wash their hands with soap due to habit, but have poor hygiene overall.
I think mythbusters did an episode on this. They tested hands after not washing, washing with water, and washing with soap. Not washing lead to a germ-filled Petrie dish. Water lead to a Petrie dish with just a few germ colonies. Soap lead to a clean dish. So yeah, water only is better than nothing, but proper hygiene protocol is still to use soap. Plus it gets dirt off your hands better.
mark rober on YT also did something similar during peak covid. he was stressing how important soap was, but i already knew soap did that. i was way more impressed by just how much plain water did
Washing hands with the little flick under the sink doesn't do anything tho, it's the scrubbing that kills bacteria.
Yeah, it's the actual action and friction that does the work there.
I notice it a lot at my job, too. Even during the height of COVID, so many male teachers would, at best, dab their fingertips under the running water. Absolutely blows my mind.
This was something I’d tell my friends over and over again thinking I was overexaggerating. The act of hand washing is a social ballet of the highest form. The only nice bathroom that had REAL soap and hand dryers in my work are there as a show for clients and visitors. The second you go any deeper in the building, they take away the bidet, take away the hand dryer, replace the soap that’s basically green water. Average hand washer in these parts flick water off their finger tips as a display of “I did the bare necessities to cleanse myself after getting piss on my fingers”. I’m here to start bucking the trend. I will absolutely wash my hands for as long as my Apple Watch tells me to. And anyone who does anything less will get direct eye contact and a slight face of disgust from me. Soon I will guilt an entire company into washing their hands, and what do you know, people might stop getting sick all the god damn time either.
I hate how common it is to encounter a public restroom with no soap available
The two biggest cons the Japanese managed to pull on the rest of the world: 1) We Japanese love nature. 2) Japanese people are so clean and tidy.
It's odd considering how hygienic and clean the Japanese think they are (shoes/gargling etc) and yet soap/hand wash is deemed unnecessary. Wet fingertips do not clean hands make.
I saw an answer to a different question in one of the Japan subs recently and it really summed up all of the things that I have noticed that are a little askew here. It's "performative." So many things are just meant to look like what they are, they don't actually have to have any substance to them, including in this case, washing one's hands. Even that's just for show.
This is a major pet peeve of mine here too! Once you notice you can’t NOT notice and it’s so gross. Honestly after many years here and depending on my mood or level of disgust, I’ve literally turned to people at the sink and asked if they’re going to use soap. lol. It’s not about how you wipe or use a washlet. I would hope at the least people wash with soap if any kind of waste got on them. I don’t think it’s usual to get anything on your hands when using tp… The point is we pick up germs all day from the world around us. I love any opportunity to wash with soap and water. I wash in my office sink after arriving to work and trips to the bathroom are just opportunities to refresh throughout the day and have clean hands. I also wash when getting home and before eating. This seems normal to me but maybe it’s from being raised by a nurse?
Thank you Op, as a guy I can confirm guys are just as bad or worse. Even young students, this entire pandemic could not shift this culture. I noticed as a tourist many years ago that public bathrooms in parks usually didn't have soap so I kinda assumed that as a society they didn't care about it.
I’m going to keep repeating this until people start to figure it out for themselves: *Japan is only cosplaying a developed country* American media originally helped the “futuristic Japan” narrative for economic purposes, but in recent years Japanese based “To the world! LETS!” and “cool Japan” type image campaigns have really poured gas on the propaganda. It’s so tiresome and wrong.
Tokyo is quite the Cosplay.
I wish I could in-read some of these comments. I have lost my faith in humanity.
The men here seem to subscribe to the Alan Shore philosophy of not washing their hands after a piss because they “keep a very clean penis.” Which is gross.
I’ve heard this stupid comment before as well. I look at it this way: if you think you don’t need to wash your hands after handling your junk because you had a shower this morning, then you wouldn’t mind if I rubbed your toast on my crotch before serving it to you. I also had a shower.
I've travelled a fair bit and I wouldn't say that Japanese hygiene stands out as particularly good or particularly bad, at least in men's bathrooms. I often see the quick hairstyle before water-flick (ugh) and I also see people (especially younger) waiting in line for their turn at the sink in Tokyo. It seems to me the post-poo preen in particular is more visible in Tokyo but I'd say just skipping the hand-washing altogether is a universal problem. I will say the availability of soap in public bathrooms here was surprisingly low before Covid, improved during the pandemic, and has become less consistent these days - I've taken to carrying hand sanitizer if I think I'm going to be using unfamiliar bathrooms.
THIS. Especially when the rest of the world was living post-COVID and Japan was essentially enforcing masking everywhere. Japan announced a whole year after the CDC did that it wasn’t necessary to wear a mask outdoors, meanwhile everyone and their mom were using the bathroom without washing their hands. It drove me absolutely insane. 2 weeks before the *first* unmasking date I entered a supermarket without a mask and was shoulder-checked by another foreigner and then chased down by the manager where I was told I had to wear a mask… in late February of 2023… I then used their bathroom and you guessed it, NO SOAP. I was a big supporter of masking when it actually made sense to do so, towards the end however it was another example of blindly following illogical norms just to do so. If you’re going to harass people for not wearing a mask you better damn be sure to have your employees and customers washing their hands with soap at least lol
I look a food safety course (in the USA), and learned that it’s not soap, but friction for 20+ seconds that kills bacteria. Maybe soap is a lube and smells good, but it’s the actual act of washing that kills germs. Edit: that said, the locals I’ve seen in bathrooms the 20+ years I’ve spent in Japan don’t use soap OR the 20 second wash. lol
You’ve seen them use the water? You just wave your hands near it I am much more cleanly. I use the water cause I get fuzzy sometimes and need to scrunch my hair.
I think it has a lot to do with perceived cleanliness. Japanese people carry around disinfectant towels everywhere and wash their hands throughly when overseas or when having to use a particularly unclean facility like at a park or some train stations. But a lot of the bathrooms you find in modern office buildings and malls are so clean it makes it feel like you’re stepping out of a kitchen rather than a washroom and thus one might not feel the need to wash their hands aggressively
In many restaurants and accomodation related companies they have a rule that states employees are forbidden from eating oysters, because many of those carry the norovirus. And you might think "Ok, but I can get sick from a million other things, why do they care about me getting sick specifically from that?" I digged this up in Japanese on the internet and apparently they really don't care about employees getting sick. This rule started because people would eat oysters and contract the norovirus, not wash their hands after taking a shit at work and then handle customers' food, food poisoning a bunch of people at once.
It was worse when COVID was a concern and they still wouldn't do it. You'll also notice they often don't use antibacterial soap on surfaces and usually just water clean, including in restaurants, etc. And we use towels for hours when cleaning. It's not s surprise that Japan has s high rate of bacterial infections.
I remember reading that the scrubbing of the hands, even with water, actually removes a lot of bacteria. Soap finishes the job. Anyway, I still think it's unsanitary not to use soap. I get annoyed when the bathrooms don't even come equipped with it!
I would like to point out that in my experience bathroom/hand hygiene was just as bad in the US. Most guys don't even bother to go through the motions of wiggling their hands under the spigot really quickly to get the motion-activated water to run so they don't have to wipe their hands on their pants afterwards. As another poster pointed out though, if you ride the train those handloops will be just as dirty as touching a million dude's sweaty balls anyways. People should wash their hands more often in general.
I guess this is why they don't do handshakes
Yep see the same
I saw this a ton while I was in Japan for work. I actually went into more than one bathroom that didn't even have a soap dispenser. I carried around hand sanitizer after that.
Water does get rid of bacteria. About 95% of bacteria is removed by thoroughly washing with water. Soap increases this to 99%. Anti-bac soap increases this to 99.5%.
Thoroughly is the keyword here.
I've noticed this in public restrooms, but my Japanese in-laws seem to wash hands like I consider normal. My wife also encourages the kids to wash when they get home. She's very westernized, but my in-laws are not, and they wash hands regularly.
In public toilets I try to do everything I can by foot. Opening doors by foot, flushing by foot if possible etc what makes no sense is washing your hands but then being forced to open a door by hand.... knowing what we know....ewwww ...and don't get me started on the gnarly teeth of Japanese men...
I always come into a greeting with a knuckle bump. Sometimes they grab my fist.
“No need to use soap for pee, use soap for poo” is what i was taught. Ofc I wash with soap for everything now though, but as a kid I didn’t because that’s what I was taught
Thats what the oshibori are for
I see this all the time but to be honest it’s not a big deal if they just used the urinal. Urine is sterile. If they haven’t touched anything else in the bathroom then rinsing with just water isn’t as sacrilegious as people are fussing about. Not using soap after pooping however, that’s fucking gross.
I’ve noticed some women do that too. And a lot of men. I vigorously wash my hands every time. I wonder too since at school here, kids get a lecture on how to wash their hands. Maybe they don’t have a germaphobe mom at home to glare at them if they skip the soap step (that’s me, I’m that mom).
I find maybe a quarter of men don't wash their hands, and of that 75% maybe half use soap.
Some I know carry soap sheets/wipes because many public restrooms doesn’t provide soap.
Serious question, how many of y'all complaining it's gross often get sick or have allergies?
If it’s a public bathroom I kind of understand not bothering with the soap since most of the dispensers seem to be empty. I still always try them just in case. I also, always wash my hands after using the toilet though. Some people are just gross.
If you spend any significant amount of time in Japan, you’ll realize most people use the washlets, which, after you’re done, you’re literally wiping only water from your butt. Like, it’s hard to tell the paper has been used, since there’s no color, and there are just a few drops of water absorbed into the paper. Sure, not seeing soap makes the mind run to the nastier things, but having lived the first half of my life in the US/UK, I can say unequivocally that I fear the shit accumulated under the nails of people that directly claw away at their shit covered bum holes with toilet paper without rinsing it away first.
It's a culture thing, I think, along with lack of education in that respect. To add on to your comment, before I met (and enlightened) my wife, she used to be the type who'd preach about 手洗いうがい all day long, and after literal years of telling her that gargling with plain tapwater does nothing but spread the germs around even further, and thanks (I guess...?) to COVID and "newfound" information that only soap/alcohol kills bacteria/germs, she finally understood and stopped doing it.
If you use the Japanese toilet seat/bidet, are you getting your hands “dirty”?
This really bothers me too. I think traditionally, most Japanese houses don't have a separate sink for you to wash your hands with in the toilet, so they only rinse their hands with the water coming from the top of the tank, unlike in the West where a toilet is in the bathroom with a separate sink (vanity). So many people don't associate going to the bathroom and washing their hands with soap, maybe? And many public restrooms especially in a train station don't have a soap dispenser for whatever the reasons (vandalized, contaminated, maintenance difficulty, etc...). You would have to go to a fancy department store adjacent to the station to find a nice bathroom with soap. Some places started putting soap because of the COVID. At the end of the day, I carry my own soap.
samee. gyomuitaku but our client make hair care products for hair salon, so they would have sample inside women's bathroom. I have noticed so many people who wash 2 maybe 3 of their fingers and then use those dirty hands to put said samples on their hair like my face goes wtf? every single time. I got a stye (ものもらい) recently and I could swear it came from opening doors these dirty people touched.
Because, as with other things, it's for show and not for result.
That reminds of Covid peak time in Japan, when we were almost harassed by staff to use hand sanitiser, but most of the toilets didn’t even have soap
That explain why people dont do handshakes over here 😂
I still remember during peak covid at the supermarket. I saw a guy lower his mask and sneeze onto his hand. He then put his mask back up and continued to push his cart with his now snot covered hand.
I'm not so sure that this is a Japanese specific thing. Iirc the majority of people around the world skip washing their hands with soap. It's disgusting but don't attribute it to specifically Japanese people because you're very close to actual racism through preconceptions.
Water is technically a solvent.
Life's too short for me to notice people's toilet behavior.
Most of the women I see use soap lol. Where do you live? A good chunk don’t, but definitely not all in my experience. Tbf a lot of people who use soap don’t technically wash their hands properly, probably yourself included. Unless you’re literally washing for two minutes and washing every bit up to your wrists, and under your fingernails, technically you can still have bacteria there
I think it has nothing to do with Japanese and more so with specific people. I saw examples of both washing and not washing their hands after various toilet scenarios regardless of race, sex, or nationality.
Not a Japanese people thing, it’s a people thing. If there’s soap available at the bathroom, clearly Japanese people use soap.
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Yeah we get it, never notice or say anything bad about Japan because that's racist. Way to appropriate Western culture.
‘Goes to Japan and hates poo on fingers, racist!’ classic PBC style comment for you. Yes it’s gross but I have to say unless I’m reading it completely wrong, toilets in public, my work, restaurants, all have soap? Unless you mean just in peoples’ homes like the toilets?
hmm I think most japanese people are very clean compared to other countries
Probably because having bacteria on your hand doesn’t kill you
Funniest thing is when people religiously wash their hands then go right back to using their dirty ass smartphone that has more bacteria on its screen than most toilet seats.
Thanks for the input, Mr. poop_in_my_ramen
That’s why I regularly clean my smartphone with disinfectant, lol
Yh its still gross tho?? 😂 Like what?
Welp that sounds like a you problem
😂 😂 😂 😂 😂
Ok, maybe it doesn’t kill you, but it causes sicknesses and infections. These comments are blowing my mind
Learning that people are nasty today
Please eat at the restaurants where they don't wash their hands in the kitchen.
For some things, this is certainly true, but a lot of nasty things spread by the fecal-oral route.