How to Use a Japanese Toilet: Bidet Seat Buttons, Flushing and the Call Button

Close-up of a bidet toilet seat control with a red stop button and a blue spray button — A bidet seat control: the red square is Stop, the blue button is the rear spray.Photo: Stéfan Le Dû, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Japanese toilets are famously clean and comfortable, and also famously full of buttons. Most have an electronic bidet toilet seat (warm-water washing seat), sold under names such as TOTO's WASHLET. The buttons can be confusing the first time, and in public toilets there is one button you really don't want to press by mistake. This guide explains the common symbols, how to flush, what can go down the toilet, and how to use the traditional squat toilet you may still meet at some stations.

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The standard button symbols, and what each one does
Flush button or call button? How to tell them apart
Toilet paper goes in the toilet
Squat toilets, and the "privacy" sound button

The buttons on a bidet seat

Common bidet seat buttons (simplified drawings)

Simplified drawings for this guide, based on the descriptions in the Japan Sanitary Equipment Industry Association's pictogram guideline (2017) and TOTO's English guide. They are not the official symbols, which are shown on the association's page.

In 2017, the Japan Sanitary Equipment Industry Association published eight standard pictograms for the main bidet seat controls: lid open/close, seat open/close, full flush, light flush, rear washing, front washing (bidet), dryer and stop, used from April 1, 2017. Most of these were later added to Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS S 0103) and the international standard ISO 7000. So even with different brands, the symbols usually look alike.

Illustration: a staff member points to the buttons on a toilet control panel on the wall for a traveler — The control panel is often on the wall beside the toilet.Illustration (AI-generated)

TOTO's English guide describes the main functions: rear cleansing washes the rear; stop stops the operation; front cleansing serves as a bidet for women; the warm air dryer dries you; flush and light flush flush the toilet. Many models also let you adjust water pressure, nozzle position and the seat temperature. Sit down before you press a washing button, and press Stop when you're done.

Flushing

Japan's Consumer Hotline for Tourists says there are several ways to flush: pushing a lever, pressing a button, or holding your hand over a sensor on the wall or on the back of the toilet. Many toilets have a large (大, dai) and small (小, sho) flush. Some flush automatically when you stand up.

Flush button or call button?

On the wall of a public toilet

Based on the Japan Sanitary Equipment Industry Association's common rules for public toilets and JIS S 0026 (checked October 2026). Older toilets may differ.

The industry association explains that a common layout for public toilets was created because people couldn't find how to flush, or pressed the call button thinking it was the flush. Under the Japanese standard JIS S 0026 (2007), the paper holder, flush button and call button are grouped on one wall: the flush button sits above the paper holder and is round, in a neutral or cool color; the call button is at the same height further back, in a different shape such as a square or triangle, preferably in a warm color. JNTO notes that some toilets also have an emergency button or cord near the floor, in case someone falls. If you press the call button by accident, don't worry; just tell the staff who respond.

What goes in the toilet

Japan's Consumer Hotline for Tourists says toilet paper dissolves in water and should be flushed down the toilet, not put in the trash. The Tokyo Metropolitan Sewerage Bureau adds that nothing other than waste and toilet paper should be flushed: no diapers, tissues that don't dissolve in water, plastic and so on. Use the small bin in the stall for sanitary products. Kyoto City (Kyoto), Fukuoka City (Fukuoka) and Sapporo (Hokkaido) have made multilingual stickers to explain this to visitors.

Squat toilets

You may still find Japanese-style squat toilets at some stations and older buildings. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government's official guidebook says to face the hood of the toilet (the raised, rounded end) when you squat. Stand with one foot on each side, squat low, and keep your clothes clear. If you'd rather not, check the next stall: public toilets often have both Western and squat styles, and the door may show which.

The privacy sound button

Some stalls have a button or sensor that plays the sound of flowing water to cover other sounds. TOTO calls its device "Otohime" and says it was launched in 1988 to save the water people wasted by flushing just for the sound; its English guide calls the function "privacy." Wave your hand over the sensor or press the button.