If you've spent some time in public toilets in Japan, you've probably seen Otohime, the little control panel that makes the sound of flushing while you relieve yourself so that nobody can hear the farts or plops. This beautiful black rose has the same function, except it's embedded in a portable cell phone strap &mdash it makes a flushing noise when you press down on it. While that may assuage the fear of having someone hear you take a dump in the toilet, I'd think it would be even more embarrassing to have this accidentally go off when you're sitting in a train or walking to work.
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During my last ANA flight, an older woman went into a toilet and didn't come out for about 20 minutes after she stopped aggressively flushing, because she didn't want there to be a smell or any evidence that she had ever been in the toilet. I just felt so bad for her, going through her whole life in fear that someone might know that she had normal bodily functions.
Posted by: Marshall | August 21, 2009 at 04:15 PM