Japanese Toilet Sinks (Stinks)
 

I'm not sure how many of you are in the know or who have experienced Japanese above toilet sinks, but I was always peprlexed as to what the purpose of the "above toilet" sink was for.

The one that I had in my Kyoto apartment was not even big enough to get my hand under, but then again, did I really want to!!

Is this sink for washing your fingers, hands or does it have another useful meaning?

You must have really massive hands...

The water coming out is fresh water, directly from the water pipe. It is for washing your hands, and is actually an excellent way to save water. The water you dirty when washing your hands after using the toilet can be reused to flush (as you shouldn`t really care if the water in the toilet has already been "used" for hand washing).

Actually, that below photo is not mine. My toilet going back five years had a chrome metal pipe and the distance between the end of the tap and sink top appeared to be a lot smaller than that photo. The toilet top sink was also narrow.. I couldn't have washed my hand without getting water everywhere, my finger tips would have been the limit..

It's good to know that it was for washing hands and the west could certainly learn a lot from such a basic invention on saving water.

lol.. what a toilet.

actually, it's kinda pretty cool if you wash your hand, then those water just flow down into the toilet. you don't have to waste any water.

thank god my hand is small enough to use the water properly..