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Japanese men sit down to pee

September 5th, 2009 by James

Sitting pee

The TV Tokyo program that introduced the foreigner learning traditional Japanese manliness from an ouendan also contained a brief segment on how Japanese men sit down at toilets to urinate instead of peeing from a standing position. In 1999, only 15% of Japanese men claimed they sit down to urinate. By 2007, almost half of the male population were answering that they sit down to pee!


The panelists on the TV show lamented this change as a sign of how manly Japanese men are becoming a rarity. An increased percentage of single men living with their parents and a higher rate of saving income were also cited as examples of increases in unmanliness.

I have posted about this issue in the past, but this video is a bit different. The 2007 Fuji TV program blamed wives for the change, while this TV Tokyo program blamed mothers. Apparently the trauma of being scolded as a child has made many men unable to assume a standing position before toilets.



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60 Comments »

Comment by jc
2009-09-05 08:54:50

If I pee standing, half the time I’d make a stinky mess, spraying yellow water over the toilet and onto the floor. And then I’d have to clean and sanitize the toilet.

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Comment by Tora
2009-09-05 10:08:17

You should learn how to pee if you can’t make it into the bowl. It’s not that difficult. I think an occasional miss is normal, but not means to sit down to pee. Plus sitting down takes more time!

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Comment by L33tminion
2009-09-09 05:02:17

A whole five or ten seconds. Although I suppose how much of a concern that is depends on how much of a hurry you are to get back to whatever it is you were doing.

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Comment by adsadasdasdasasd
2009-09-06 00:14:11

Haha, LRN2PEE. I only sit down if i’m also taking a number two or feel really lazy.

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Comment by kingofjamos
2009-09-05 08:58:30

oh the shame……

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Comment by 2828
2009-09-05 09:21:32

I actually just recently started peeing sitting down. I got tired of having to clean up my own mess. I never thought of it as being something not manly… it is just so much cleaner.

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Comment by Raku
2009-09-05 09:43:41

I pee standing up and never get it anywhere apart from in the toilet.

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Comment by Mark
2009-09-05 09:50:40

I don’t agree that’s it’s “not manly”, I just think once you have your own toilet to clean and walk in – and if you, like me, hate wearing slippers which never fit – then a lot of men probably realise it’s easier just to sit.

Nothing to do with my mother or my other half either. Amazingly I came to that conclusion by myself. *shock*

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Comment by menrui
2009-09-05 10:37:52

Less of the work, none of the mess. I sure wish everyone at my dorm would sit down and pee. That or at least clean up after themselves!

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Comment by Vonskippy
2009-09-05 10:43:47

Either put a scope on your penis to improve your aim or just start wearing a dress and carrying a purse.

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Comment by yutopia7
2009-09-05 16:11:11

both methods seem like too much work, so why not sit down.

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Comment by feitclub
2009-09-05 11:57:38

I wonder if they factored age into their survey. Maybe more men sit down because they’re getting older and tired of standing up all the time.

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Comment by Craig
2009-09-05 12:07:56

God they are so feminine

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Comment by weirdo
2009-09-05 12:48:07

座りションの何が悪い!

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Comment by Haf
2009-10-05 00:50:43

Hehe, made me laugh, thank you! Surely Kusanagi said that? ;)

But I don’t really understand the ション part, I also noticed this in the clip. My dictionary hast no entry for that word as well.

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Comment by Private Underpants
2009-09-05 13:32:46

I often miss the bowl altogether, leaving a spray of foul-smelling orange broth covering both sides of the walls, the back of the toilet, as well as those poxy ‘toilet slippers’. I then fail to flush the toilet, don’t turn the extractor fan on, and fart on the way out.

I am the most ultimate man. Ever.

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Comment by Orchid64
2009-09-05 14:01:35

I don’t know why standing up to urinate makes one more manly. That being said, my husband pees standing up and doesn’t make a mess. Some of the commenters here must have a serious depth perception and aim issue.

People make a big deal and read things into the smallest things.

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Comment by yutopia7
2009-09-05 16:13:51

some people’s piss comes out spraying especially if it’s not circumcised. our penises aren’t all designed the same way.

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Comment by Joe
2009-09-06 14:30:20

Pull back the skin before you go, its not hard.

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Comment by yutopia7
2009-09-06 16:00:51

yeah, obviously that has been tried as well. still comes out spraying.

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Comment by ralph
2009-09-05 14:16:05

Japanese people are sometimes precise and methodical in what they do, most of the time. So how can they not pee well standing up?

They must have tiny penises. How else can you not control a hose coming out of your own body?

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Comment by Montsan
2009-09-05 14:21:28

Maybe there’s also been an increase in Western-style toilets in public restrooms?

Either way, standing or sitting doesn’t really matter. I’d be more worried if Japanese men suddenly felt compelled to go to the bathroom in groups.

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Comment by jokester
2009-09-05 14:37:58

Who would actually consider sitting down on a public toilet seat? At nice hotels, I might, but unless they have the alcohol gel to wipe on first or a paper covering of some sort, I think I’ll keep on standing to pee at the stations, cafes, restaurants and most other places. The only seat I’d trust to be clean would be the one at home.

It really has nothing to do with being “manly” or not, whatever that means, but certainly does have to do with cleanliness, and it seems many of these pee-sitting men kinda have it backwards.

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Comment by TE
2009-09-05 14:46:09

This is the end……….. my only friend, the end………….. tra la la la……..

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Comment by Aaron
2009-09-05 15:12:41

I’m more worried about the idea that “saving more” = unmanliness. Personally, I’m not a big fan of manliness, but I hate the idea of encouraging reckless spending to maintain any sort of image (be it “fashion” or “cutting edge geek” or “manliness”). I know the government (that is, the corporations who control the government) want people to spend more and save less, but it strikes me as particularly distateful to link positive gender identity to bad personal financial policy.

And I’ve been sitting to pee since I was in college (over 15 years now)…I never thought of it as having any connection to gender identity–only to cleanliness and privacy (when you don’t have a urinal, standing and peeing is a bit more, um, obvious).

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Comment by Kitty
2009-09-05 16:28:09

My BF pees in sitting down because he is addicted to the Toto douche feature.

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Comment by me
2009-09-05 20:03:59

Unless your BF is douching out the end of his dick, he’s a girly man just like all the other sit-downers :P

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Comment by Brad F.
2009-09-05 21:54:36

The fact that your boyfriend likes to douche himself is cause enough to doubt his manliness.

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Comment by jmadsen
2009-09-05 16:30:37

Having helped put two young girls through toilet training, I can assure you that sitting down != cleaner.

I was AMAZED at what sort of firehose range and ferocity women are capable of.

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Comment by me
2009-09-05 20:04:46

You had to have kids to figure that out? I figured it out when I was 15 and my gf could spray halfway across the room.

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Comment by William George
2009-09-05 20:10:50

My aim is like Golgo 13, but…

At home, I stand up.

If I’m at a home where there’s a woman, I sit down. This is because I don’t want to listen to them squawking endlessly if I forget to put the seat down.

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Comment by the_elan
2009-09-05 17:42:29

I do that. But that’s when I have an erection and can’t aim well.

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Comment by big happy penisss
2009-09-05 20:14:08

ARISE YOU MEN! DONT LET YOU COMMAND HOW TO USE THE LOO!!! ARISE YOU MEN! YOU PISS IS YOURS!!

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Comment by Brad F.
2009-09-05 21:56:00

Just when you thought you had a firm grip on what being a man was all about…

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Comment by JOE
2009-09-06 02:10:18

Why not just pee into the shower? A little burst of water cleans it right up! For a bit of releasing your bowels, take some laxatives. Who can say that they don’t enjoy a little slip n slide now and again?

Seriously, buy some. Drink, inject, snort some laxatives.

While their still legal.

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Comment by RT
2009-09-06 05:54:57

This is more related to a Japanese obsession with hygiene than it does with masculinity.

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Comment by Jonathan
2009-09-06 07:45:50

That is education to sit down and pee.
I am a guy and not gay but very straight and very religious christian too but not fanatic. My wife is German and we have 3 kids where 2 are boys and the youngest is girl. We have taught to the boys to sit down when they pee as is education and not stand up as they may spread dirty urine in the path.

My opinion is that all men on earth would do that but I think we have major issues than that but at least educated family members have to pee when they sit down.

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Comment by Vonskippy
2009-09-06 11:02:40

“they may spread dirty urine”

Pee (unless you’re ill) is clean and sterile. It’s only after it sits around for quite a while that it picks up germs and then becomes stinky (because to bacteria – it’s a smorgasbord of food ingredients – and the odour is caused by bacteria breaking down those chemicals).

So all those people who squirm at fresh pee – get over it – it’s WAY cleaner then the spit thats in the mouth of the person you kiss.

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Comment by sukebe
2009-09-06 08:57:38

My penis is always hard and upright right after getting up, peeing while standing enables me to do away with washing my face in the morning.

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Comment by Sandy
2009-09-06 09:39:23

What an intelligent debate.

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Comment by who
2009-09-06 11:21:05

I think the new trend in Japanese TV is unmanly Japanese men.

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Comment by madne0
2009-09-06 11:22:01

What’s all this talk of “i sit down to put because i don’t want to make a mess”? Jesus Christ people, are you missing hands? Are you blind? Just grab the damn thing and point! It’s not that hard. Jeez…

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Comment by so.spesh
2009-09-06 12:40:52

def. do u pple have any aim whatsoever? this video is shocking and takes away any self respect and any manliness these blokes had.
standing and peeing is manly, sitting down is downright feminine.

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Comment by helical
2009-09-06 16:20:23

Aiming right for the middle of the water will cause chaotic splashing and frothing, with possibly little droplets flying out in a radial fashion in all directions.

Aiming for the toilet/urinal wall at a steep angle off the surface close to vertical is a recipe for disaster, and will cause even more droplets bouncing off the solid surface in every which way in comparison to a fluid surface.

The trick is to aim at a solid surface at a shallow angle, so that most of the urine will adhere and glide along the wall in a laminar flow, and the distribution of the vectors of any airborne droplets will be tight and closely match the direction of the main flow concentrated in a directed cone rather than a radial explosion from the point of impact.

Thus the best way to reduce any unwated splashing and dirty messes is to aim for a wall area close to the water at a shallow angle, so that most of the urine will glide down immediately into the pool, and the cone of droplets will also be directed towards the water surface. If it starts frothing, you’re doing it wrong.

As you can see, I’ve thought this through quite extensively. I feel so manly right now…

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Comment by Sandy
2009-09-06 23:26:21

That actually read like a college paper.

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Comment by The Overthinker
2009-09-07 02:18:53

“a steep angle off the surface close to vertical”

Depends entirely on how and where you aim. Given that the stream is travelling at a close to vertical anyway, you want the impact angle to be as close to zero as possible, as you note. So you need to select the ideal surface to aim for based on your output.

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Comment by helical
2009-09-07 03:58:35

Whups, I meant “perpendicular”, not “vertical”.

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Comment by JJ
2009-09-06 16:46:17

The other day I went to an after party at a teacher’s house, and he asked us to pee sitting down so it would be easier for him to clean in the morning.

/facepalm

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Comment by tokyojesusfist
2009-09-06 21:00:48

Peeing standing up has a chance of making a mess, whereas sitting down does not. However, when you’re in a public toilet or something, it’s more sanitary for you to stand up.

But in terms of “manliness,” this issue is 100% arbitrary. There is no rational explanation whatsoever for the notion that peeing standing up is more manly than doing it sitting down. People who think so are either stupid or deranged, or both.

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Comment by The Overthinker
2009-09-07 02:25:27

No, no. You see, when women act like men, that’s called “empowerment.” When men act like women, that’s called “emasculation.” So a woman wearing trousers is okay, but a man wearing a skirt is a Scot. In fact the name “Scotland” came from an old English jibe about the maniless of the Highlanders – It was known as “skirt land” originally. This so annoyed the Skirts, or the Scots, that they took to wearing their skirts (which they called a “kilt,” as in “I jest kilt me a Englishmoon!”) sans underwear to prove at a moment’s notice, or when the wind was particularly strong, that they were real men.

And in terms of making a mess – what are wives for, then?

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Comment by Iago
2009-09-07 13:17:19

…it’s more sanitary for you to stand up.

Not neecessarily. As sitting down gives much less opportunity for the necessary shake at the end, there is a significant risk of depositing one or more dewdrops on the floor — or even on the seat, Heaven forbid — upon standing. Unless you get some tissue and wipe like a girlie, too.

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Comment by Ishigaki
2009-09-07 00:51:11

hahaha, I must admit that I’ve done this on occasions. Does anybody watch Curb Your Enthusiasm? Larry David does it too…he fell in the toilet when his wife left the seat up.

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Comment by randomcommenter
2009-09-07 10:01:32

I’m such a man that I even shit standing up.

But, seriously, I’ve never had a problem getting my urine stream to go in the bowl, but that’s not what people are talking about when they say sitting is cleaner. It isn’t that their pee stream doesn’t go in the bowl, it’s that 1) if you pee into the water, some urine splashes out, and 2) if you pee onto the porcelain, some urine rebounds out. It isn’t a whole lot. If you aren’t the one who cleans the toilet, you probably wouldn’t notice. But if you *do* clean the toilet, you’ll find that there’s usually a light misting of urine around the base.

Personally, for me, old habits die hard, so I pee standing up, but then I swipe down the area around the toilet (at home, of course, not when using public toilets).

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Comment by Misty
2009-09-07 14:54:29

The real issue is, actually, what the man does AFTER peeing. Look into websites of Japanese toilet manufacturers like TOTO or INA and you might find reports of how the urine is sprayed onto the walls and floor and even the man’s own pants when the man twirls or shakes his penis when he finishes. The best way to prevent this is to wipe the penis with toilet paper — but that means using more toilet paper and it’s not environment-friendly.

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Comment by The Overthinker
2009-09-08 11:18:15

“it’s not environment-friendly”

This is a joke, right?

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Comment by James
2009-09-08 14:06:30

Well, this continues the evolution of Japanese men into becoming women. They sit to pee, and now shave their eyebrows.. you can’t get more sissy than that..

 
Comment by L33tminion
2009-09-09 05:04:05

Wonder if this has anything to do with the tons of money Japanese people have invested in making their toilet seats more comfortable.

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Comment by Ryuubu
2009-09-11 08:15:19

I have to admit, sitting down to pee is, in my mind at least, a little feminine.

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Comment by Bob Newhart
2009-10-16 12:20:17

Fuck sitting to pee. Maybe we should chop our dicks off, too. Women sit to pee and still piss on the seat some fuckin how. Stop emasculating men. It is just penis envy more than it is not wanting to clean a mess. A man needs to clean up after himself if he makes a mess and not act like a little boy, but being able to stand and pee is a gift, don’t throw that gift away. I will rather be called a barbarian than a sissy and obediant anyday. Women need to sit, not us. Should men also paint their toe nails and wear lipstick, would that make you happy and say…he’s so cultured and educated, progressive and modern. Later you will bitch and say there are no men anymore when you made them women. Bob Newhart out..

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Comment by Bob Newhart
2009-10-16 12:23:52

Peeing while sitting if you are a man…weak…obediant..woman with a penis

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