The photo on this blog gives away some of the surprise I am going to tell you about. There is one thing to know and one thing to think about.
To know: I am in Tokyo and will be here for awhile. To think about: new housing costs in America are high because local building codes make inexpensive pre-fab houses nearly illegal. A pre-fab house, delivered can cost 1/4 the cost of the identical house built on the spot.
All housing would be even cheaper if Americans could use the standard pre-fab Japanese bathroom (no toilet in it, like San Francisco's old homes). I've thought about starting just such a business. It would be 'high-end'. High end people were the first to use Japanese spray toilet seats.
The surprise to me was the Japanese bathroom in the apartment we are staying in this year.
It has a built in hot air circulation system that is used to dry clothes. So the apartment doesn't need space for a dryer. The bathroom serves that function in the winter and on rainy days. The Japanese often like to hang laundry, to dry, outside; for the smell and freshness.
I love it. Hang the clothes in the bathroom, close the door and turn on the dryer function for roughly an hour or hour and a half. Wonderful.
(Imagine my surprise to find the photo is turned on its side and I can't make a correction with the software and Internet connection I have here in Tokyo.)