Japan is not only the land of the Rising Sun, its also the land of electronics which is integrated into the daily lives of citizens in Japan. When we bought our house, it came with stuff like an interphone with monitor, heated toilet seats with a water jet to wash away stubborn spinach or corn, and an electronic water system that can be controlled from the kitchen or bathroom which speaks to you when the bath is full and wot not. Did I forget to mention the motion detection anti-burglar pressure units in the floor?
There are a load of electronic stores in Japan - the larger chain stores being Ks Denki, Bic Camera, Yamada Denki, Yodobashi Camera and Kojima.
Today we take a lookie at Yamada Denki's brand store called LABI located in Shibuya. If you want to pay a visit then just get off at Shibuya station and walk down Dogenzaka.
Just a quick note - if you visit any electronics stores in Japan - bring along your passport so that you do not have to pay tax - the amount is usually deducted on the spot - obviously only applicable to folks who are not resident in Japan.
If you signup for a point card, then you will earn points at the same time. So if you buy something for 50000 yen then you will get up to 10% of what you spent to spend on your next purchase which you can do right after you pay.
Once upon a time, the Japanese used to use a small wooden stick called Chugi to wipe their bottoms. It wasn't until the Meiji period when they gradually started to use toilet paper.
Toilet paper wasn't available during the Meiji period and folks had to import it!
I think people got fed up of using those Chugi sticks because some people mistook them for chopsticks and then realizing while they are eating breakfast that they were not chopsticks but elder brothers personal Chugi. The victim thinking "no bloody wonder there was dried corn on the end of that Chugi..."
The Japanese finally got bored of using toilet paper and invented the washlet. Basically what happens is that once you have finished your morning dump, you press a button and a stream of water shoots your back door to remove bits of poo and undigested spinach.
While a bidet does offer similar functionality, you have to actually move over to it and risk dropping some waste in the process. One could then slip on the poo and end up with their head in the toilet with a bunch of spinach poo in their mouth - all very dangerous stuff.
I jumped off my seat when I first tried a washlet but am used to them these days however and prefer to use them to clean my botty especially after a night of spicy food - prefer to wash off the skiddy splashes rather than use paper and spread it around like peanut butter, nutella or marmite.
Retro washlet CM below.
Some folks are embarrassed about the noise of their pee trickling or poo making exploding noises when hitting the water. This device emits the sound of water flushing enabling one to do their business without being embarrassed.
Folks who do not own this device could compromise by clapping or singing very loudly instead.
We finally got a digital TV earlier on this year (or was it the end of last year?). Was actually looking for a Samsung TV but could not find them listed at any Japanese retailers even though they were being plugged in commercials on TV - have a feeling something fishy going on there. I'm not too bothered with brands as long as they do the job. Whats your fave electronic brand and who makes most of your electronic goods - does not have to be a Japanese manufacturer.
When we first came to Japan, wifey and I went without a mobile phone for quite a few moons until it was absolutely necessary to get one ^^;
We started off with Docomo and then switched to AU finally ending up with Softbank because of the iPhone.
Following poll just to get an idea of what carriers your are using.
This is the entrance that you should be looking for when visiting LABI. These photos taken a while ago with Elly when touring Shibuya for Culture Japan. LABI has 6 huge floors filled with stuff - too much to go through for one TV show which is why we skipped some floors including the games.