Survival Tips

Japanese Toilets: The Full Washlet Button Guide

The high-tech washlet can have a confusing row of buttons, often labeled only in Japanese or small icons. Here's what each one does — so you can use it without accidentally launching off the seat.

Updated

Pressing the big red button expecting it to flush

A tourist's hand reaching toward a prominent large red button labeled with a bell pictogram and 呼 on a Japanese washlet wall panel, slightly confused expression
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Assuming the biggest, most prominent button on the panel is the flush button

In many Japanese restrooms, especially accessible ones, a prominent button on the wall is not the flush button—it's the emergency call button, and pressing it alerts staff or whoever is responsible for the bathroom that you need assistance. In a 2014 TOTO survey of 600 foreign visitors, 8.8% said they had pressed an emergency button by mistake. The button may have a small pictogram of a bell, an alarm, or the Japanese character 呼 (yobi, 'call'), but it's easy to miss the distinction at first glance.

A tourist's hand pressing a smaller button labeled 流す with a water-drop icon on a wall panel beside a Japanese toilet, confident calm expression
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Look for the 流す (nagasu, 'flush') label or the swirl icon

The flush button is usually smaller, sometimes on a separate wall panel, sometimes on top of the tank, sometimes on the side of the seat. It's often labeled 流す (nagasu, 'flush'), 大 (dai, 'big flush'), or 小 (shou, 'small flush'). There are often two flush options: a full flush (大) and a partial flush (小) for water conservation. On newer panels, flush uses a standard swirl-shaped icon—a larger swirl for 大, a smaller one for 小.

Pressing random buttons while seated without reading labels

A tourist seated on a Japanese washlet jabbing at unlabeled buttons on the side control panel with a surprised wide-eyed expression, water visibly jetting out from below
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Idly pressing buttons to see what they do while sitting on the toilet

Japanese toilet buttons control a range of functions: bidet spray (front and rear), spray pressure, spray position, seat heating, lid closing, deodorizer, flush sounds for privacy, and more. Pressing them randomly while seated can result in sudden water jets at unexpected pressures and angles, which is at best startling and at worst results in water on your clothes or the floor. Some of the spray functions are surprisingly powerful.

A close-up illustration of a Japanese washlet control panel with four key buttons clearly highlighted and labeled 止, おしり, ビデ, and 音, no person visible
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Learn the key buttons before you press anything

Key buttons: 止 (tomeru, 'stop') is the stop button—press this if anything is happening that you want to end immediately; on newer panels its icon is a solid square. おしり (oshiri, 'rear') activates the rear bidet spray. ビデ (bide, 'bidet') activates the front bidet spray for women. 音 (oto, 'sound') or a music-note icon activates the privacy flushing sound. Pressure controls (圧 or +/−) adjust the spray strength.

Putting used toilet paper in the bin

A tourist mid-rise from a Japanese washlet with water visibly arcing out and splashing the floor and wall, alarmed open-mouthed expression
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Dropping used toilet paper into the small bin, as you might at home

In some countries, used toilet paper goes in a bin next to the toilet rather than down the drain. Many visitors bring that habit to Japan. It happens often enough that Kyoto city made stickers in four languages explaining to tourists how to use the toilet, and Sapporo city provides illustrated stickers to inns and hotels for the same reason.

A tourist seated on a Japanese washlet calmly pressing a prominent red 止 stop button on the side control panel, focused careful expression
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Flush the toilet paper. The small bin is for sanitary items

Japanese toilets are designed to take toilet paper, so used paper goes straight into the bowl and gets flushed away. The small bin you may see in the stall is for sanitary items, not for toilet paper.

Using the handicap toilet without noticing

An able-bodied tourist entering a clearly marked accessible (多目的) toilet stall door with a wheelchair pictogram visible on it, regular stalls visible empty nearby, oblivious expression
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Using the accessible (handicap) toilet when regular stalls are available

Japanese public bathrooms often have a separate 'universal' or 'accessible' toilet—a larger single stall designed for wheelchair users, parents with small children, and people with various accessibility needs. Using it when you don't need it and regular stalls are available is frowned upon, because you might be there when someone who actually needs it arrives.

A tourist walking past an accessible toilet door clearly marked with a wheelchair pictogram and heading toward a regular stall door, normal walking posture
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Use regular stalls unless you have a specific need for the accessible one

The accessible toilet is marked with wheelchair pictograms, a baby changing station symbol, or the label 'multipurpose' (多目的, tamokuteki) or, on newer signs, 'barrier-free' (バリアフリー). Use the regular men's or women's stalls unless you specifically need the accessible one (injury, child care, heavy bags that won't fit elsewhere). Many countries share this courtesy, and it's worth remembering in Japan too.

Why a toilet needs so many buttons

TOTO launched the Washlet in 1980—a sit-down toilet with a built-in bidet—and Japan collectively decided that more features was always better. Heated seats, deodorizers, pressure controls, privacy sounds, automatic lids. Decades of iteration turned the humble toilet into a cockpit with no English manual.

The buttons are often labeled in Japanese, with tiny pictograms that can need a decoder ring if you can’t read kanji. Makers agreed on standard pictograms in 2017 to help visitors, but older panels and many variations remain. Trial and error is a common tourist strategy—but trial and error with a high-pressure water jet has consequences.

Memorize four things: flush (流す), stop (止), rear spray (おしり), and the call button you shouldn’t press unless you need help (often a big red one).

A few “nice to know” extras

  • Heated seats in winter — Sitting on a warm seat in a freezing bathroom is a feature many tourists love. Many hotels have it. Some Japanese homes leave it on year-round.
  • Sound princess (音姫) — A fake flushing sound that masks your real bathroom audio. Common in women’s restrooms. It was developed to replace the habit of flushing to cover sounds, which wasted a lot of water.
  • Squat toilets still exist — Older station bathrooms and rural parks sometimes have the traditional floor-level style (和式). Face the hooded end, squat, flush with the lever. No bidet, no buttons—refreshingly analog.
  • Automatic lids — High-end toilets sense you approaching and open the lid like a butler. You’re more likely to meet them in upscale hotels and restaurants. Slightly unnerving the first time.

Quick check

Three questions to lock in the toilet survival skills. Takes about 20 seconds.

Quick check

Can you spot the right move?

  1. Q1 Is the big red button on a Japanese toilet the flush button?

  2. Q2 In Japan, should you flush used toilet paper down the toilet?

  3. Q3 Is it okay to use the accessible (universal) toilet when regular stalls are free?