Japanese Features Japanese public bathrooms Soceity and Customs

A Necessary Item in Japan: a Handkerchief or Hand Towel

There are several things you must carry with you whenever you travel in Japan.  A handkerchief or a hand towel is one of these essential items.








Although, recently in Japan, a drying device like the one shown on the above picture (i.e., a hand dryer in a Japanese bathroom) has been getting very popular, some bathrooms of shopping malls and, especially, of minor tourist spots such as hiking trails and rural onsen (English: hot springs) resorts do not carry such a hand dryer.

 Sometimes, paper towels are not available, either, as you find an indispensable item for public bathrooms in the United States of America.  Probably because Japanese people are environmentally friendly, they are expected to carry a handkerchief or towel to wipe their hands after they are done with the bathroom.  

We strongly suggest you should carry a handkerchief or towel with you, when traveling in Japan.  Sometimes, you ought to carry tissue as well because there are some cases where even toilet tissue is not available. Otherwise, you will be in a big trouble.

Another related post "Free Tissue, like a Flier, on the Street" may interest you as well.  When you are out of tissue in your bag, you can get some tissue on the street.  Please check it out.  

Another post about public bathrooms might interest you!

5 comments :

  1. AnonymousJuly 20, 2009 at 7:46 AM

    Coming from a french university, I've learned to always keep an handkerchief or paper tissues with me... We do have hand dryer machines but they never works :o)

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  2. UnknownSeptember 13, 2009 at 9:36 AM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AradhanaDecember 31, 2009 at 1:01 AM

    In India too, people in the cities are acustomed to the habit of carryin either paper tissues or handkerchiefs considering the high levels of air pollution in the cities. Most of the malls and public utilities too keep paper tissues for public convience. presence of hand dryers is not so common..but i guess t tissues serve more purpose than t dryer!!! :-))

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  4. Little World TravelerJuly 17, 2010 at 7:06 PM

    PeopleTowels was inspired by the Japanese hand towel custom and it's trying to bring that habit to the US. Bringing your own hand towel everywhere you go is very handy and more environmentally friendly for sure. Check it out - peopletowels(dot)com.

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownJanuary 10, 2014 at 2:58 AM

    Very informative blog, Hope this helps many!
    Hand Dryers in India

    ReplyDelete

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