This is a question for people who have been living in Japan for a long time.
I remember going to the toilet at my local train station (a station in near Yokohama to be exact) when I was a kid about 25 years ago. I finished my emergency business and realized there weren’t any toilet paper! So I walked back home dirty. Thankfully it was the dry type so my undies were safe. I remember my mom telling me that it’s normal to have to buy tp on a vending machine outside the toilet.
The station now has free tp like any other station but was this the same in other places?
11 comments
Never had to pay for tp in any bathroom in Japan. Also too much detail, kthx.
I’ve been in Japan since 2015. I’ve never seen a toilet where you have to buy the paper…you sure they weren’t just out?
I do remember seeing the “chirigami” vending machines outside of station restrooms a long time ago (similarly around 25 years ago), but even then all the station restrooms I remember having toilet paper. i.e., I never had to make use of said vending machines.
According to [this article](https://www.j-cast.com/2016/12/28287117.html?p=all) from 2016, supplying toilet paper became common early 2000s, with the Kanto area being ahead of Kansai in switching over.
Have been here since the mid-2000s and almost all toilets have had toilet paper; however, I remember seeing them here or there. I think the last one I saw was in 2012 or so….
Been in Japan for 19 years and have never seen a toilet without TP.
I first lived here in 2006 and I’ve never seen this or knew about it, so at least that long.
Are you not a resident of Japan? We’ve had toilet paper for quite awhile now at stations.
Arrived in the early nineties. Lack of toilet paper at public toilets was more common than not, and this situation still exists in some places. Maybe in larger metro areas having it provided was the norm, but not in Okayama or Hiroshima ken.
It depends on where you are. I remember being unpleasantly surprised in Sapporo when I ducked into a toilet during the snow festival about 15 years ago and discovered that there was no toilet paper, and not even a bracket for toilet paper. Fortunately I had a packet of tissues, but tiny tissues make for some tricky wiping. I heard that in Sapporo now has toilet paper in most stations.
I’ve been in plenty of Asian countries where toilet paper cannot be assumed, and as a rule of thumb I’d recommend carrying a packet of tissues. Fortunately in Japan people giving away free tissues is a pretty common occurance.
Perhaps this is the origin of the practice of giving away free tissues?
Used to be less common, but after awhile they realized that the costs of providing TP was far less than having to constantly unclog the pipes and occasionally repair them as people flushed any kind of paper down the toilet. Pages from those large manga magazines and newspapers were a frequent cause of problems.
> a station in near Yokohama to be exact
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> it was the dry type so my undies were safe
Next time please be more exact on the location and less on the undies situation.