Japan's toilet seats a hit among Chinese

TOKYO - Toilet seats with warm water washing systems were popular among Chinese who visited Japan during China's weeklong Lunar New Year holidays last month.

According to Chinese media, some 450,000 Chinese travelled to Japan during the period and spent about 6 billion yuan (S$1.3 billion, US$956 million).

Japan's Hottolink Consulting analysed some 265,000 comments posted to Chinese social networks Sina Weibo, Tencent Weibo and WeChat between Feb. 18 and 24.

Heated toilet seats with warm water washing systems were ranked third in the list of most purchased items by Chinese. The seats are also sold in China. But many seem to be more comfortable buying Japanese products because the nation's market for the toilet systems is well established.

One commenter praised the seat: "My parents are old, so it's wonderful that the seat is heated." The seats also seem to be popular as status symbols.

During holiday season, some Chinese tourists visited a home electronics retailer in Tokyo and went straight to the hot toilet seat section to check if there were any left.

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