????不論你怎么形容日本人，現在他們可以宣稱自己有全世界最干凈的屁股。這要歸功于他們的一項科技奇跡——衛洗麗。

????多年來，日本人一直習慣于蹲式衛生間。在這樣的衛生間里，人們的如廁專用拖鞋（沒錯，日本人有如廁專用的拖鞋）可能會掉到充滿惡臭、粗糙的污水管道中。如今，日本人發明了一件科技神器，讓馬桶污垢消失無蹤，他們還希望把這種產品賣到全世界。

????有人稱它為衛洗麗，有人叫它太空盥洗室或者智能衛馬桶。總之，這類器具在座便器的旁邊有一個面板，可以控制座便器像自動坐浴盆一樣，用溫水和暖風清洗人體，再也不需要廁紙。這類器具的價格從650美元到2,000美元不等，深受麥當娜和烏比?戈德堡的喜愛。

????雖然價格昂貴，而且對不同的身體機能也有不同的反應，但衛洗麗依然在日本之外、甚至在美國市場也取得成功。美國人一直認為坐浴盆是歐洲人的特色，是放縱墮落的表現。不過，令人意外的是，最初的坐浴盆實際是美國人的發明，是為殘疾人和老年人所設計的。

????走在智能馬桶領域前列的是日本的東陶公司（Toto）。公司一位發言人曾說：“可以說，我們基本上就是馬桶界的蘋果（Apple）公司。”他們已經橫掃國內市場，如今正瞄準美國市場。不過，它的競爭對手已經出現。科勒（Kohler）的紐密（Numi）坐便器，零售價約為5,000美元。它采用免觸式自動開蓋技術，支持藍牙音樂播放功能，以及觸摸屏遙控器。

????東陶美國總裁戴維?M?克拉科夫稱：“最近衛洗麗的銷售額超過3,000萬，不僅在日本，甚至已經在全世界流行開來。在北美，我們的衛洗麗的銷量以每年15%左右的速度增長，遠遠超過整個衛浴行業的增長速度。”上世紀90年代，東陶將衛洗麗引進了美國市場。他說：“我們認為東陶可以算得上這個產品品類中的霸主。”

????或許東陶有些自夸。這家公司年銷售額約為51億美元，在全球有69個辦事處，超過20,000名員工，是全球最大的衛生管道制造商。東陶并未提供衛洗麗在美國的銷售數據。

????有人或許會說現在的高科技馬桶是日式禮儀和品位的產物。東陶的衛洗麗包括搖擺的、有規律的水流，座圈溫度可以調節，有暖風干燥器，座圈上涂有氧化銀可防止細菌滋生，配有除臭器，遙控器，用于自動沖洗的近距離傳感器，以及自動開關座圈等功能。最后一個功能甚至被戲稱為“婚姻救星”。它甚至還有防臭瓷磚，以及用于男士小便器的捕蠅裝置，使用熱感墨水制成。

????目前，大多數日本人的生活都離不開這些科技。73%的日本家庭都有這種高科技坐便器——數量是日本擁有洗碗機的家庭的兩倍。看到這個你就會明白，在日本這個將“干凈”等同于“美麗”的國家，排在第一位的到底是什么。高科技坐便器在日本如此普遍，以至于許多日本人面對西方僅用廁紙的廁所時會不知所措，他們在旅行的時候也會帶一個手掌大小的便攜式電子坐浴盆。

????Say what you will about the Japanese, but they can lay claim to the world's cleanest posteriors. For this, they have a technological wonder to thank -- the washlet.

????After years of squat lavatories where your toilet slippers -- yes, Japan has special slippers for toilets -- could disappear into rank and primitive plumbing, the Japanese have created a filth-free temple to techno-power and want to share it with the world.

????Some call it the washlet, others the space lavvy or smart loo, but all of these appliances sport a panel by the lavatory that controls automatic bidet- style cleansing with warm water and warm air, doing away with the need for toilet paper altogether. Prices range from about $650 to nearly $2,000 and are lusted over by the likes of Madonna and Whoopi Goldberg.

????Despite high prices and very different attitudes to bodily functions, washlets are finding success outside of Japan and even in the U.S. where, until recently, bidets were once viewed as singularly European and symbols of sybaritic depravity. It may come as a surprise, perhaps, as the original bidet technology was American -- designed for people with disabilities and the elderly.

????Leading the charge to deliver smart loos to the world is Japan's Toto. "Basically, we're the Apple (AAPL) computers of toilets," says a spokesman. The company has cleaned up at home and is now tackling the Americas. It already faces competition, though. Kohler's Numi, which retails for around $5,000, features hand-free seat opening tech, Bluetooth-enabled music streaming capabilities, and a touchscreen remote.

????"Over 30 million washlet sales later and the washlet's popularity is taking off all over the world, not only in Japan. In North America, our Washlet sales generally grow about 15% per year, which is considerably more than the overall plumbing fixtures industry tends to grow," claims David M. Krakow president of Toto USA. Toto introduced Washlets to the United States in the 1990s. "We consider this product category to be something Toto owns," he says.

????Toto might well brag. With annual sales of $5.1 billion and over 20,000 employees in 69 offices globally, Toto is the world's largest plumbing manufacturer. Toto did not offer U.S. washlet sales figures.

????You might say today's high-tech privies are a product of the delicacy of Japanese manners and taste. Toto's washlets include oscillating and pulsating streams of water, seats with adjustable temperatures, warm air dryers, seats with silver oxide to fight bacteria, deodorizers, remote controls, a proximity sensor with automatic flushing, and automatic opening and closing seats. The latter is being dubbed the "marriage savior." There are even odor-fighting tiles and fly decoys made of thermal ink for urinals.

????Most Japanese now cannot live without such tech. A prodigious 73% of Japanese homes have a high-tech toilet -- that is double the average of dishwashers in Japanese homes to give you an idea of priorities in a country where "clean" is synonymous "beautiful." So ubiquitous are high-tech toilets that some Japanese, unable to cope with Western paper-only lavatories, take a hand-sized portable electric bidet with them when traveling.