Bidets are nowhere near that expensive. Really nice, automated, integrated Totos are <$2,000. Replacement toilet seats to retrofit bidet and heating functionality are normally $200-300 (outside of pandemic times).
Re:Why America Is Losing the Toilet Race
by HenryKissinger on Tuesday March 24, 2020 @01:16AM
(#22672177)
Hold on a second. This is only for one particular model. The article says that high-tech toilets are present in hotels, restaurants, bus stations, rest stops and around 80% of homes in Japan. Japan is a poorer country than the United States. If Japan can afford this technology, there is no reason the US can't, from a strict affordability standpoint.
Poorer by what metric? I wouldn't agree that life in Japan vs USA is so dissimilar that you can definitively say Japanese people/shop owners are poorer. For example, both countries rank highly on the Human Development Index [1]. In fact, Japan is #3 by inequality-adjusted HDI, whereas USA is #28.
(agree that the user you're responding to is being disingenuous about the price of Japanese toilets btw. The other differences is that public restrooms in Japan are often shared among several nearby shops--like at a train station--meaning a Toto is always within reach even if there's not one in every shop.)
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Dev... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_inequalit...
If you're talking about GDP per capita it doesn't really tell you whether the general populace is well off or not.
$17,300 toilets are great, much better than $80 toilets.
Author should install a $17,300 toilet in his home using money he actually earned himself and THEN write about how he feels that was the right decision.