Japanese Toilets Play Music So You Don't Embarrass Yourself
TL;DR
The Otohime is a wall-mounted speaker, launched by TOTO in 1988, that plays roughly 25 seconds of running-water sound to mask the noise of using the toilet. It is named after a dragon princess, replaced a wasteful habit of repeat-flushing that cost the country 2.7 million tonnes of water a year, saves around 6 litres per use, masks sound up to 45 dB, and is now installed in roughly 80% of Japanese women’s public restrooms. It is also, depending on who you ask, either a model of considerate design or a small monument to gendered shame. Possibly both.