toto

On the latest edition of Japan's most popular music show, a young woman got up with her guitar in front of a nationwide audience and sang a song about toilets. It lasted for eight minutes.

Far from being aghast, the audience was moved. Kana Uemura's rendition of her hit "Toire no Kamisama" ("The Goddess in the Toilet") was a highlight of NHK TV's "Kohaku Uta Gassen," a New Year's Eve music special that has been on the air for 60 years.

The song, originally nearly 10 minutes long, is about Uemura's love for her late grandmother, who would encourage her while she was a child to clean the toilet by telling her that if she did, the Toilet Goddess would be pleased and turn her into a beautiful woman.

Released last year, it proved a runaway success, picking up two Japan Record Awards and inspiring two books and a TV drama based on Uemura's story. It's no wonder that Uemura's concerts are now sponsored by Inax, a major Japanese toilet manufacturer. … Read more

A hands-free faucet is a great way to improve your kitchen efficiency, conserve water, and prevent the spread of germs. Tearing up that kitchen for a costly renovation? Not so great. For a digital boost that won't break your wallet, consider Toto's Wi-Touch. This wireless remote can be placed anywhere--at foot, knee, or elbow height --within 3 feet of the control box, which you can install yourself in under an hour. It's compatible with virtually all standard manual faucets, both with and without pullout sprays.

The remote costs about $300 and needs four AA batteries for the … Read more

Are you shy about people hearing your, um, noises in a public restroom? Well, take heart because you're not alone. A mobile version of Otohime, a Japanese toilet function that reproduces the sound of running water to mask bodily sounds, is selling out.

Japanese loos are famous for their high-tech features. Electronic toilets with functions that play the sound of running water are common in public facilities like offices. Otohime means "sound princess," and it's exclusively found in ladies' restrooms.

Last year, toymaker Takara Tomy Arts teamed up with toilet giant Toto to create Keitai Otohime, … Read more

The idea of having one's toilet bowl suddenly grow legs and walk off because you've used up your ration of loo water is, to say the least, disturbing and awkward. But Japanese toilet maker Toto, which manufactures those amazingly high-performance commodes that can do everything but make you coffee, has just unveiled its latest outing, the Totorobo.

Fortunately, the Transformer bowl is really a robot mascot on a mobile strap meant to promote the company's eco-friendly Greenmax 4.8 toilets. As part of its water-saving feature, only 4.8 liters are used in a flush, compared with … Read more

Soccer betting games like Toto, Lotofoot, and TotoCalcio are played by millions around the world, but they're particularly popular in countries where soccer mania rules--which is most of the world outside of the US, where "football" means shoulder pads, not penalty kicks. TotoCalculator 2 is an easy-to-use program that improves your odds of winning association football betting games.

TotoCalculator's main interface is a plain but familiar Windows dialog box. Pop-up options dialogs handle truly copious settings. The input window features a color-coded spreadsheet format listing matches between major English and European professional soccer teams, as well … Read more

Major Japanese toilet maker Toto has created a talking commode. The new Neo model has a robotic lid that moves in time with its voice, which for some reason is male.

Neo features in a series of short video ads for the Japanese market, apparently as a joke. The videos show Neo chatting with a man about everyday things like relationships and riding Japan Railways trains.

The company's Tototalk campaign promotes the Neo 2 prototype model, which is currently on display in the Caretta Shiodome mall in downtown Tokyo. Check it out in the video below.

Neo 2 is … Read more