Toilets in Japan

Although the Japanese energy consumption per person is about half of what one person uses in the United States, toilets in Japan use up energy like no tomorrow. Apparently, these Japanese toilets are able to warm and wash your bottom, take away odors with built-in fans, and play relaxation music. The higher-end toilets are able to sense when a person walks in or out of the room so that it can lift or lower their lids accordingly and develop a "memory" that predicts the "bathroom schedules" of everyone in the house.

These luxuries (can I call them luxuries...?) cost up to $4000 and use more energy than dryers and dishwashers! I know that I don't even use a dishwasher that often because of the high energy consumption, but think about how many times you go to the bathroom in a day. And then multiply that by the number of people in your family. I just thought that this was very interesting.. :)