It seems like bathrooms in Japan can have three different “rooms” to them. In English we don’t really have words for these, so I’m not having any luck doing a Google Search for this.
I would to know what the correct Kanji and Romanji would be for the room where the toilet is, the room with a sink where people typically leave their clothes, and then the “wet” room with the shower and tub.
Thanks in advance.
3 comments
お手洗い、トイレ、化粧室、便所- refers to bathroom (the room). トイレ、便所 can also refer to the toilet itself (the part you sit on).
お風呂- the tub, but also used to refer to the entire room
シャワー – refers to a standing shower, but again also refers to the room itself
ユニットバス- refers to the combined shower and tub when it’s all one piece of plastic. But this is a technical term and not used normally
洗面台-the sink and counter area combined
流し台- just the sink basin
Ok so I looked at the floor plan of my house out of curiosity. So in real estate (不動産) lingo …
A separate small room with just a toilet is a トイレ
The room with the sink and washing machine is a 洗面脱衣室 (literally wash-your-face-and-undress-room), the room with the bath itself doesn’t have a descriptor where I checked, but just お風呂 works.
Frankly I don’t think you’d usually make a difference though in every day conversation. Just お風呂 for the bathroom + antechamber gets the meaning across.
お手洗い typically implies toilet + sink as you’d find in restaurants etc.
便所 sounds like a public toiled like you’d find in parks.
浴室 (よくしつ) will differentiate the room with the shower from the room with the toilet (トイレ), for houses / apartments with them in separate rooms