A Japanese toilet adds to an ordinary WC a warm water jet, adjustable in pressure and temperature, which replaces or completes paper. This range gathers the three ways of fitting one at home: the floor-standing pan, the wall-hung pan, and the washlet seat that replaces the seat of a WC already in place. The comfort of the jet does not depend on the layout; what changes is the scale of the work and what shows in the room.
Floor-standing Japanese toilets
A floor-standing WC keeps the most common layout: the pan rests on the finished floor and the cistern stays visible. It is the shortest route when an existing WC is replaced without opening the wall or building a duct, and the washing comfort depends on the model chosen, not on its layout.
The models in this chapter currently publish lengths of 68 to 75.5 cm: that is the figure to transfer into the room before anything else, together with the clearance left in front of the pan. Our comparison, in French, puts both layouts on the same footing: WC suspendu ou posé au sol, lequel choisir.
The same model may also exist in a washing version and in a plain one: the product page says so, and it is the page that decides. The visible cistern, for its part, is cleaned like an ordinary WC, with no duct to open.
Wall-hung Japanese toilets
A wall-hung WC fixes the pan to the wall, on a concealed frame hidden behind a duct that also houses the cistern. Nothing rests on the floor: the room breathes, the floor is cleaned without an obstacle under the pan, and the only visible part of the mechanism is the flush plate, set flush with the wall.
Choosing wall-hung means choosing two products instead of one, the washing pan and the frame that carries it. Most pans in this chapter publish lengths of 54 to 59 cm, to which the depth of the duct is added. Some models also require their own frame, a condition worth reading before settling a building budget; our guide, in French, lists the checks: Installation d'un WC japonais, raccordement et compatibilité.
The flush plate is chosen along with the frame: the plates our frames come with by default are dual flush, and other plates are available on request. Some pans also come in several finishes, up to matt black and matt white, which change how the wall reads entirely.
Washlet seats for an existing WC
A washlet seat replaces the original seat of a compatible pan: the ceramic stays in place, only the seat changes. It is the quietest way to turn an ordinary WC into a Japanese toilet, without replacing the ceramic. In English the same product is often called a bidet seat, or a washlet, after the trademark registered by Toto in Japan.
Two checks govern the project: the compatibility of the pan in place, and a cold water supply and a power socket nearby. Our article, in French, sets out these prerequisites before ordering: Abattant lavant washlet, transformer ses WC sans travaux.
Size matters as much as the house: one washlet seat may exist in several sizes, round, U-profile or elongated, to match ceramics that are nothing alike. When in doubt, a template of your pan brought to the store lets you confirm the size on the chosen model before buying.
Before choosing: the dimensions, and the word self-cleaning
Four dimensions decide a WC project: the usable length of the room, its usable width taken at pan level, the depth the appliance takes up, and the seat height, measured with the seat in place. They are taken on the finished work, tiled floor and lined wall, otherwise the thickness of a screed or a lining is paid for in centimetres. Read, in French, Dimensions d'un WC, cotes minimales et profondeur, which gathers the lengths published by our product pages and three worked examples.
Then there is the vocabulary. A self-cleaning WC does not clean itself: on most of our models the wand rinses itself automatically, and some ceramics carry a treatment that reduces how easily dirt sticks. High-end models are recognised by the accumulation of functions, automatic lid opening, warm air drying, odour filtering, rather than by a single claim. Models are on display on rue d'Assas and free to try during opening hours; all carry a two-year warranty.