Wellness Begins at Home with TOTO WASHLET
Wellness. It's a term that is thrown around often, but what does it really mean?
Wellness is generally defined as the state of physical and mental health, especially as the result of intentional effort. These days, it is understood that mental and physical health are fundamentally linked. The WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO) DEFINES HEALTH as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Many MODELS OF WELLNESS today include at least six dimensions!
How does this idea of health and wellness relate to TOTO bidet seats and bath fixtures?
For TOTO, wellness is about having both cleanliness and comfort at home without sacrificing one over the other. That’s why “Cleanliness and Comfort” is one of three global themes of the TOTO Global Environmental Vision. To help establish the goals of providing cleanliness and comfort throughout the world, TOTO works to deliver clean and comfortable toilets and WASHLET products globally.
TOTO's History of Advancing Health and Wellness with Bathroom Fixtures
Founder of TOTO LTD.,
Kazuchika Okura
TOTO's (and Japan's) first sit-down flush toilet
TOTO was founded by KAZUCHIKA OKURA, who studied the public sanitation systems outside Japan. Okura had a vision. He wanted to establish a ceramic sanitary ware laboratory in Japan to develop healthier and cleaner living spaces for Japanese citizens. Okura successfully developed Japan’s first seated flush toilet in 1914 and established Toyo Toki Company, Limited (now known as TOTO) in 1917.
Since then, TOTO has expanded its ideas of wellness to include comfort.
In the 1970s, TOTO realized that the electronic toilet seat with bidet function did not need to be limited to the medical setting as it exceeded our basic need to be clean. This appliance addressed our fundamental desire to be comfortable. So, TOTO decided to go back to the drawing board and engineer its own product. As a result, WASHLET (which is the reverse of “Let’s Wash!”) was launched in 1980 and entered mainstream Japanese homes, offices, malls, train stations, ships, gas stations, and beyond.
TOTO bootstrapped the market for luxury electronic bidet seats in Japan, and WASHLET became a widespread success. So much so that competing manufacturers began capitalizing on this new market by introducing their own models. By 2020, more Japanese citizens owned an electronic bidet seat than a personal computer or a car. Through its rapidly growing line of WASHLET bidet toilets and bidet seats, TOTO continues its mission to expand cleanliness and comfort worldwide.
People who are not familiar with WASHLET often assume that all bidets (traditional bidets, bidet seats, and bidet attachments) function the same way. There is, in fact, an overlap in the underlying concept: water does a better job of cleaning dirt or waste off a surface. This is why we wash our cars, dishes, and muddy dogs with water instead of just wiping them with paper towels. But we all know that a cold shower (unless it’s intentional) or a shower with water pressure that is too high or too low does not give rise to a sense of wellness.
Importantly, bidets and bidet seats are not the same.
Traditional bidets can be confusing to use, inconvenient, and messy. It’s not just about spraying yourself with a stream of water. Additionally, bidet attachments generally rely on cold water, and their water pressure can be too strong or too weak. Even within the electronic bidet seat world, technologies vary quite a bit.
Enter TOTO's WASHLET Bidet Seat
WASHLET’s fundamental concept is to reinvent the way people perform the most vital daily ritual and bring wellness into their lives. There is a reason people call WASHLET “life-changing.” When the WASHLET bidet seat was introduced in 1980, it began a modern tradition based on common sense and science. The world had relied far too long on the less sanitary and far less comfortable method of wiping with toilet paper. Beyond hygiene, WASHLET brings a sense of harmony and wellness to daily life. The love for the product is reflected in the over 50 million bidet seats that have been sold worldwide. TOTO continues to focus on wellness as it develops advanced new technologies for WASHLET.
More than 50 million units of WASHLET products sold around the world
WASHLET Bidet Seat Technologies that Promote Wellness
Here are some WASHLET features that provide wellness through a heightened sense of comfort and cleanliness.
EWATER+
EWATER+, TOTO’s name for electrolyzed water, is produced by the electrolysis of the sodium and chloride ions tap water. Through this technology, tap water is turned into a weak solution of sodium hypochlorite, which is a powerful cleaning agent. This powerful, environmentally friendly cleaning technology has been used by the foodservice and hospitality industries for over 50 years. There are numerous residential and medical uses of electrolyzed water, but TOTO is the only plumbing manufacturer to bring this powerful cleaning technology to the WASHLET bidet seat. Because Ewater+ does not contain any undesired toxic contaminants, it is completely safe.
Learn more about EWATER+ HERE.
AIR-IN WONDER-WAVE
Our AIR-IN WONDER WAVE is a technology that infuses air into the water droplets to produce a more comfortable washing sensation while reducing water consumption.
Watch a video about AIR-IN WONDER WAVE HERE.
Oscillating and pulsating functions
The oscillating function moves the nozzle back and forth for a wider cleaning area, while the pulsating function provides a soothing massaging effect.
Deodorizer
The highly effective deodorizer automatically pulls the air through an active carbon filter and removes the odor-causing molecules from the toilet bowl. This process occurs during and immediately after use, leaving a fresh toilet without chemicals.
Watch a video about WASHLET’S Deodorizer HERE.
Warm Seat
The moment you approach the toilet, the seat begins rapidly warming to a comfortable temperature. TOTO WASHLET bidet seats automatically lower the temperature based on the user’s behavior patterns, ensuring that the user always sits comfortably on a warm seat while minimizing wasted energy.
Warm Water
WASHLET provides comfortable, warm water cleansing at the touch of a button, and the temperature can be adjusted to suit your preferences. It is a matter of physical science that warm water cleans better, but it is also a matter of comfort, and how warm water makes us feel that also matters. And with warm water, a once mundane trip to the bathroom becomes a spa-like experience.
TOTO’s Corporate Philosophy Embodies Comfort and Cleanliness
One of TOTO’s foundational and continuing goals is to create an enriched and more comfortable lifestyle and culture.
President Kiyota with TOTO’s luxury NEOREST suite product
By expanding TORNADO FLUSH toilets and WASHLET products (especially ones with EWATER+ technology) across the world, TOTO AIMS TO REALIZE CLEANLINESS AND COMFORT ACROSS THE WORLD. We realize that “wellness” is a feel-good word that might have lost its power through overuse. However, at TOTO, promoting wellness is at the core of our business strategy.
The president of TOTO, Noriaki Kiyota, recently wrote, “I believe that the TOTO Group is an extremely fortunate company in that if we conduct our business activities correctly, we can serve a useful purpose to the world, including society and the environment.”
We are fortunate that as a global corporation, our widespread success is fundamentally linked to our mission to provide a more holistic approach to wellness.
