Lonely Japanese students eat their lunch on the toilet

[Yamamaya]

http://www.cartoonleap.com/2009/07/07/japans-lonely-students-eat-in-toilets/

Apparently they're so lonely that they feel embarrassed to go sit alone in the cafeteria so they eat their lunch on the toilet instead. A few schools are starting to ban it.

(well this is from a year ago but w/e).

[Atria35]

I'm not surprised. Students in America do that, too.

[goldenspines]

Umm, actually, the school's didn't ban it, probably because they can't, logically or legally. Someone did put up signs, but the schools said they didn't:
[quote="article"] The notice, with the same message, the same design and the same warning but with different school names, has been posted over the last few months in toilets at numerous universities.

“The following activities are banned in toilet stalls,â€

[ChristianKitsune]

Awww...that's really sad...
I've never heard of students (from any country) eating lunch on the toilet... >_< to me that idea seems worse than sitting alone...

But yah I'm with you, Goldie. I'd try to make friends with them... Poor kids...

[Nate]

There's no way to really enforce what people can and cannot do in the bathroom

If that's true I'm going to start a black market for illegal firearms in the bathroom.

[Lilac#18]

[color="Plum"]I agree with CK, that is really sad and I never heard of that ether. I feel sorry for them.[/color]

[Ante Bellum]

If that's true I'm going to start a black market for illegal firearms in the bathroom.

And then you grow this into an entire crime ring with that bathroom as your main base. Eventually others begin to take notice of your power and they too start bathroom gangs. But when they try to fight you to take away your bathroom, an all out war erupts and your bathroom is blasted to pieces. So you go and take over their bathrooms thanks to your superior firepower, and from then on you are known as Nate, Lord of the Bathroom.

Back on topic: I have never heard of this before. I know when I was separated from friends at lunch (No, really. We have different lunch times because of a small cafeteria, and almost everyone I knew was in the same period while I was in one by myself.), and ate alone, I never thought of resorting to this...They must really have a rough time if they do that. As for the people who posted the signs, well, idiots will be idiots. Personally, even if I was so lonely to the point of eating in a bathroom, I wouldn't want to try to make friends with them.

[Fish and Chips]

(well this is from a year ago but w/e).

Always at the cutting edge of current events, aren't we Yamamaya.

[Hetharu]

That's kinda sad. D: No one should have to eat alone at lunch. *says the person who ate alone 50% of the time* :l Was not fun. Never went into the bathrooms though. Even if I had thought of such a thing I wouldn't have. @_@;; That's the room the final turn on the road of digestion takes place, not the very start!

[Tsukuyomi]

Hahahaha.. funny funny (not the article or the reply above her)!

While I think that's ridiculous, I can understand why they would resort to eating in the bathroom/on the toilet.

Kids can be harsh, and if they see you sitting/eating alone, they will tear you apart o.O To avoid this, they resort to hiding out.. Even, if that means eating on the toilet.. Just to avoid being ridiculed by others o.o

[Radical Dreamer]

And then you grow this into an entire crime ring with that bathroom as your main base. Eventually others begin to take notice of your power and they too start bathroom gangs. But when they try to fight you to take away your bathroom, an all out war erupts and your bathroom is blasted to pieces. So you go and take over their bathrooms thanks to your superior firepower, and from then on you are known as Nate, Lord of the Bathroom.

This is the best post in this thread. XDDD

[goldenspines]

If that's true I'm going to start a black market for illegal firearms in the bathroom.

I'm going to say that you make a good point and direct your towards Ante's brilliant post, who said things better than I could have. XD

[Yamamaya]

Always at the cutting edge of current events, aren't we Yamamaya.

Because FishandChips is very knowledgeable on the state of people eating their lunches on toilets. He knew about this state of affairs long ago and has been eagerly seeking to rectify the situation.



From what I understand Japanese bathrooms are much cleaner and advanced than the bathrooms in American schools so it would remove some of the gross factor from eating lunch on the toilet.

Also AnteBellum wins.

[Wyntre Rose]

From what I understand Japanese bathrooms are much cleaner and advanced than the bathrooms in American schools so it would remove some of the gross factor from eating lunch on the toilet.

Uh...not where I lived, they weren't. o.0 Most of them were cleaned with water ONLY - and a very large percentage of the toilets were porcelain trenches in the ground. Throne style seating was rare in public places, even schools. Now, I lived in a little rural farming community surrounded by mountains - not all of Japan is bustling metropolis like Tokyo - so the bigger city schools are possibly different? And that picture had a student sitting on a "western style" toilet, so at least that is different. But yeah, their idea of clean and ours is a little different. They thought I was a germaphobe because I use soap to wash my hands after going to the bathroom...

[Yamamaya]

Uh...not where I lived, they weren't. o.0 Most of them were cleaned with water ONLY - and a very large percentage of the toilets were porcelain trenches in the ground. Throne style seating was rare in public places, even schools. Now, I lived in a little rural farming community surrounded by mountains - not all of Japan is bustling metropolis like Tokyo - so the bigger city schools are possibly different? And that picture had a student sitting on a "western style" toilet, so at least that is different. But yeah, their idea of clean and ours is a little different. They thought I was a germaphobe because I use soap to wash my hands after going to the bathroom...

Ah man that's pretty..yeah.

Although in general, rural areas tend to be a bit lacking on the toilet facilities.

[ShiroiHikari]

That's funny. I was under the impression that Japanese in general were germaphobes. I mean, they FREAKED about the pig flu, and they make people wear masks when they have colds. Or maybe that's only in the big cities. I've never been there, so I only know what I've seen/read about.

[Wyntre Rose]

It could have something to do with where I lived, yeah...farmers are a bit more hardy than city folk, after all. But I've also heard that masks have another function besides not spreading germs...I can't remember exactly what it was, now. Something about keeping your mouth and nose area moist? I could be wrong, though, it's been a while, and I don't know that I ever understood all the reasoning behind it to begin with. lol. Especially if it was explained to me in Japanese...

[Shao Feng-Li]

Pfft, I'd be up for banning food from the bathroom. That's just gross. It's the crapper for Pete's sake.

[Kaori]

This is the result of a culture of anxiety in which saving face is so important. There is so much pressure to conform, to not do anything to disturb other people, and to keep up appearances, that this is not terribly surprising . . . very sad, though. It’s a bit like hikikomori (students who have so much anxiety about attending school that they shut themselves up at home and never go out), but in a less extreme form.

From what I understand Japanese bathrooms are much cleaner

I’ve lived in two different parts of Japan and traveled in others, and I would say this is generally true. Sure, you can point to the fact there are some toilets set in the floor, but you could also point out typically dirty restrooms in America, like the ones at gas stations. And just because a toilet is set in the floor does not necessarily mean it isn’t clean, BTW. Overall, Japanese ones are cleaner. Japanese anything is cleaner, really. Restaurants. Toilets. Used goods.

Uh...not where I lived, they weren't. o.0 Most of them were cleaned with water ONLY - and a very large percentage of the toilets were porcelain trenches in the ground. Throne style seating was rare in public places, even schools. Now, I lived in a little rural farming community surrounded by mountains

Keep in mind that these are students at major Japanese universities like the University of Tokyo. None of them are studying in any extremely rural area.

That's funny. I was under the impression that Japanese in general were germaphobes. I mean, they FREAKED about the pig flu, and they make people wear masks when they have colds. Or maybe that's only in the big cities.

Given how closely everyone is crowded together in Tokyo, I think it’s not all that unreasonable to freak out about something like that. Just imagine constantly passing through huge swarms of people every time you go anywhere farther than walking distance.

The Japanese are a strange mix of the ultra-modern and the . . . not. There are still many old-fashioned habits that persist in Japan. They wash their hands, often without soap, almost always with only cold water (only Hokkaido in the north has restroom taps with hot and cold water, I’ve heard). They will clean floors on their hands and knees with a wet rag sometimes, or at most with a swiffer (that’s because nothing high-tech is needed to clean the flooring in Japanese housing, unlike carpet). They measure rooms by how many tatami mats would fit in the room, whether or not it has tatami flooring, and most apartments do have one tatami room. Their houses usually do not have centralized heating and air conditioning. Most of them don’t have dryers, so they hang their clothes up outside to dry. Everyone does this. During the rainy season, they hang up their clothes inside to dry.

But I've also heard that masks have another function besides not spreading germs...I can't remember exactly what it was, now. Something about keeping your mouth and nose area moist? I could be wrong, though, it's been a while, and I don't know that I ever understood all the reasoning behind it to begin with.

I’ve heard that after fifteen minutes you’re breathing the same germ-infested air as everyone else. But aside from those times when a sickness is going around that everyone is afraid of catching (e.g. H1N1 virus), the main reason the Japanese wear masks is that when you have a cold, you wear a mask to prevent everyone around you from getting what you have. (I had to do this once, too, when I went to work while ill.) When people catch a cold, they will wear a mask; if you are wearing a mask, people will look at you and wonder whether you are ill. This is because so much of Japanese culture is about not inconveniencing your neighbor.

Hm, this post makes it sound as if I have a negative view of Japanese culture, but that is totally not the case. While I realize that it has flaws and problems, just like every culture, I absolutely love Japan and Japanese culture.

@Wintyre Rose: That's cool that you were able to live in Japan for a while. Where were you in Japan? Were you studying Japanese? Teaching English? If it was as rural as what you describe, it must have been one of those places where even numbers are written in kanji more often than not and nobody speaks Japanese. Is that an accurate description of what you experienced?

[Nate]

Pfft, I'd be up for banning food from the bathroom. That's just gross. It's the crapper for Pete's sake.

Or maybe it's just more efficient!

Now I'm remembering that episode of Futurama where Bender turns into a human.

http://www.gotfuturama.com/Multimedia/EpisodeSounds/3ACV18/06.mp3

[Azier the Swordsman]

I'm a little confused by this thread. Are you all saying it's not normal for one to eat in the bathroom? I like to eat all my meals in the bathroom, whether I'm depressed or not. And not just my bathroom. I like to deliberately go visit all sorts of different bathrooms when I eat my meals.

It's quiet, soothing, and relaxing. I've eaten in a large variety of restrooms. From malls to grocery stores to gas stations, to schools... (for some reason they banned me from being within a hundred feet of the elementary school).

Sometimes I like to fantasize that I'm in a coffin when I eat my meals in the closed in restroom stalls. I have a hard time taking girls out to restaurants because when I try to explain my preferences they seem to flip out because they think I'm weird or something. So I'm looking for a girl to share delicious meals in bathroom stalls with me.

It's doesn't have to be the men's restroom, I dine in the women's all the time. You get to hear the most interesting conversations, and they tend to have chairs.

[KhakiBlueSocks]

I would make a joke here about how eating in the bathroom is, in the long run a big time saver...but I do believe I shall decline.

On the serious side, this is really sad. Isn't there a place outside where one could eat instead of in the restroom? I mean, outside in the fresh air maybe? In the stairwell? There has to be a nicer place than the restroom where you can eat and be alone if you want to. Bathroom is for books and PDA's only!

[Shao Feng-Li]

I would make a joke here about how eating in the bathroom is, in the long run a big time saver...but I do believe I shall decline.

Nate already did.

[Wyntre Rose]

Keep in mind that these are students at major Japanese universities like the University of Tokyo. None of them are studying in any extremely rural area.

You make a very good point. I spent very little time in big city Japan, so it's probably quite different from what I am familiar with.

The Japanese are a strange mix of the ultra-modern and the . . . not. There are still many old-fashioned habits that persist in Japan. They wash their hands, often without soap, almost always with only cold water (only Hokkaido in the north has restroom taps with hot and cold water, I’ve heard). They will clean floors on their hands and knees with a wet rag sometimes, or at most with a swiffer (that’s because nothing high-tech is needed to clean the flooring in Japanese housing, unlike carpet). They measure rooms by how many tatami mats would fit in the room, whether or not it has tatami flooring, and most apartments do have one tatami room. Their houses usually do not have centralized heating and air conditioning. Most of them don’t have dryers, so they hang their clothes up outside to dry. Everyone does this. During the rainy season, they hang up their clothes inside to dry.

This. And the first time I saw someone who was making dinner for me walk straight from the bathroom to the kitchen to start preparing food, and realized that she did NOT use soap to wash her hands...yeah. I just kind of had to learn to switch my brain off when it came to stuff like that. lol. And when you wake up in the morning, and there's ice in the sink because it got THAT cold at night, and the little space heaters are turned off when you sleep so you don't burn the house down? Well...let's just say you change clothes at super sonic speed those mornings.

@Wintyre Rose: That's cool that you were able to live in Japan for a while. Where were you in Japan? Were you studying Japanese? Teaching English? If it was as rural as what you describe, it must have been one of those places where even numbers are written in kanji more often than not and nobody speaks Japanese. Is that an accurate description of what you experienced?

I was teaching English in Yamagata, which is in the Northern part of Honshu, as a part of my college program. And while it was really rural, most places used Roman numerals, and the natives spoke Japanese, though the two lady pastors I lived with, who grew up in the Kanto region (which is where Tokyo is located) said they couldn't understand anybody when they first moved there, and had some pretty major culture shock.

[Kaori]

I was teaching English in Yamagata, which is in the Northern part of Honshu, as a part of my college program.

That’s cool. I’ve never been to that part of Japan myself, but I’ve heard that there are some scenic areas up there.

And while it was really rural, most places used Roman numerals, and the natives spoke Japanese,

I meant to say, “no one speaks Englishâ€

[Wyntre Rose]

[quote="Kaori (post: 1408144)"] I meant to say, “no one speaks Englishâ€