My Husband Really Wants a Japanese Toilet

"Some adolescents get all their news and information from TikTok. My husband gets most of his from "South Park."

Ever since last year when he saw an episode called "Japanese Toilet" extolling the virtues of smart toilets, he's been desperate to buy one. In the intervening months he's made me watch that episode of the animated series three times, which I finally realized was a subtle campaign to make me think a toilet that sprays water on your butt was "better for the planet." I will not make the obvious pun about which planet he was referring to.

"Don't be a pawn of Big Toilet Paper," he warned.

Finally, I was unable to take the lobbying and agreed to go to Home Depot. My husband was heartbroken that unlike what he saw on "South Park," there was no special Japanese toilet area cordoned off with a red velvet rope, nor someone plying high rollers with Champagne.

In fact, there were no smart toilets for sale at all (although Home Depot offers them online, for prices ranging from under $400 for a plug-in toilet with a visible wall cord to $6,467 for a Kohler model with gold trim on its lid). When my husband approached one of the helpful, orange-aproned salesmen, the man seemed mystified: "Smart toilet? What, does it do math?"

I hope so -- because that might explain their sudden surge in popularity in the U.S. A startling (to me) 60% of designers predict that these high-tech fixtures will be the bathroom feature most requested by clients in the next three years, according to the National Kitchen and Bath Association's 2024 trends report. That's a sharp increase from the previous year, when only 16% of designers reported interest from their clients.

It's surprising to me that so many people would consider replacing a foolproof and essential household fixture, which has nothing more complicated to fix than a flapper and chain, with an electronic appliance. "You should check the warranty if you buy one, but in my experience I have not heard of malfunctions," said Nashville, Tenn., designer Katie Vance, who has installed smart toilets in high-use situations like restaurants.

Many people still find the concept of a toilet that rinses and blow-dries you somewhat confusing. When I googled "smart toilets," one of the top search results was the question "Are you still wet after using a smart toilet?"

"Some people are still scared of it, and a few years ago when I moved to Europe, where they are popular, I had to YouTube 'How do I even use this thing,' " confessed Norbert Schmidt, Kohler's North American kitchen and bath division president.

But now that Schmidt has a top-of-the-line Kohler Numi 2.0 -- which retails for $8,625 -- in his own bathroom, he said there's no going back. "Heated seat, lights, it's got all the bells and whistles. If I get up in the middle of the night, all I have to do is get to the bathroom -- and the lights come on and guide me in."

It also turns out that there is something to the argument that smart toilets -- first popularized by Toto in Japan, where more people have them than microwaves -- are environmentally friendly because they obviate the need for toilet paper and employ low-flush technology, which will save water if you don't spend too much time spraying yourself.

Smart toilets have come a long way since 1980, when Toto introduced its first generation of Washlet bidet seats, which sit atop standard toilets and spray water upward at what has been determined to be a "golden angle" (43 degrees). Fast forward to today, when in addition to the 60 million Washlets ($350 and up) in use worldwide, Toto's Neorest line of smart toilets ($6,036 to $22,078) offers a mind-boggling menu of features, from dual-action sprays with oscillating and pulsating features to memory settings for up to four users.

"For guys who sit down and go, when they lift the seat up, sometimes there's a yellow ring, but we've created a spray mist to actually clean the underside of the seat," said William Strang, president of Toto USA. "And you never have to double flush because we have added features to spray the dry porcelain with a mist before use to improve lubricity and help the toilet flush more cleanly."

I live in a circa-1926 grandma-style cottage. Would the low-slung, minimal silhouette of a smart toilet in the bathroom be attractive?

"Well, I don't know how much you want to use the word 'attractive' for any toilet, but they are becoming statement pieces, kind of like free-standing bathtubs did," said Nar Bustamante, a Sacramento, Calif., interior designer. "The difference is there are people who buy tubs who don't bathe in them. But with a smart toilet, you definitely want to use it."

Miami architect Sandra Diaz-Velasco said smart toilets are an important element for clients who want to make a bathroom feel like a serene spa.

"The way you can control your car for a specific driver, we can integrate smart toilets with smart lighting systems to create an atmosphere -- and when you walk into the bathroom, the seat will be a certain temperature, and the water will move in the bidet the way you like it, to create an exquisite experience," she said.

An exquisite experience has hidden costs, however. For one thing, it requires electricity. Washlet owners "often buy extension cords and plug into where the hair dryer goes," according to Strang of Toto. But installing a full-featured smart toilet requires professional help: an electrician to run a power supply through a wall, a plumber to supply adequate water and -- if tile needs to be replaced -- a contractor.

For that reason, the typical customer is someone who is remodeling, said Dean Camastro, northeast regional sales manager at Duravit USA.

I reported my findings to my husband.

"Memory settings for up to four users," my husband marveled. "That means two of our three daughters could have their own presets! Can we take the plunge?"

"Yes, the next time we remodel," I said. That should buy me another decade -- and by then, with artificial intelligence, they'll probably be able to install themselves." [1]

1.  OFF DUTY --- Design & Decorating -- A Matter of Life and Decor: Help: My Husband Really Wants a Japanese Toilet. Slatalla, Michelle.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 12 Oct 2024: D.12.

 

Viduramžių sakalininkystės menas

 

 „Viduramžių sakalininkystės menas

 Yannis Hadjinicolaou

 Reaktion, 232 puslapiai, 25 doleriai

 

 „Koks tas paukštis, šis sakalas, dėl kurio visi jaudinasi?“ – klausia Humphrey'us Bogartas, kaip privatus seklys Samas Spade'as.

 

 Atsakymą pateikia Sidnėjus Greenstreetas, kuris vaidina Kasperį Gutmaną, nusikaltėlį, dėl kurio vykdoma paieška. "1539 m., - sako jis, - kryžiaus žygių riteriai įtikino imperatorių Karolį V suteikti jiems Maltos salą. Jis iškėlė tik vieną sąlygą, kad jie kasmet jam mokėtų sakalo duoklę, pripažindami, kad Malta vis dar priklauso Ispanijai." Kol kas viskas gerai. „Jiems šovė laiminga mintis, kad pirmųjų metų duoklė jam atsiųs ne nereikšmingą gyvą paukštį, o šlovingą auksinį sakalą, nuo galvos iki pėdų apraizgytą su geriausiais brangakmeniais, buvusiais jų kasoje.

 

 „Maltos sakalas“ yra 1941 m. filmas apie blizgančią statulėlę, kuri niekada nepateko į Ispaniją, tačiau paskutinėje eilutėje yra kažkas negerai, o tai paaiškėja perskaičius Yannis Hadjinicolaou „Viduramžių sakalininkystės meną“. Tai yra turtingas įėjimas į Čikagos universiteto spaudos serialą „Viduramžių gyvenimai“. Kaip įtikinamai paaiškina J. Hadjinicolaou, būtent gyvas paukštis yra brangakmenis, kurio kaina neįkainojama. Ir būtent sakalo ir sakalininko santykiai buvo laikomi šlovingais. Ar Karolis V būtų teikęs pirmenybę brangakmeniais inkrustuotai faksimilei? Jis nenorėtų.

 

 P. Hadjinicolaou yra meno istorijos docentas Bonos universitete, o „Viduramžių sakalininkystės menas“ yra antroji jo knyga. Jo pavadinimą galima suprasti dvejopai. Pirmasis susijęs su sakalininkyste, kaip ji buvo vaizduojama viduramžių mene – iliustruotuose rankraščiuose, freskose, paveiksluose, skulptūrose, daiktuose ir gobelenuose, kurių daugelis čia buvo gražiai atkurti – ir tai, ką išreiškia šie, dažnai ikonografiniai, vaizdiniai. Antroji apžvelgiama pati sakalininkystė – išradingas būdas sumedžioti maistą, kuris ilgainiui per aistringus praktikus, linkusius būti karaliais, peraugo į Artūro meno formą – religijos svarbą ir sparnų privilegiją.

 

 Patys paukščiai buvo „suvokiami, kaip brangūs“, – pasakoja p. Hadjinicolaou, – „net prabangūs estetiniai „objektai“. Jis rašo, kad viduramžiais „sakalininkavimo vaizdavimas niekada nebuvo tik pačios veiklos iliustracijos. vizualinės asociacijos ir sužadintos idėjos“. Tarsi šie plėšrūnai, išmokyti, bet neprijaukinti, sukasi ratu ir nusilenkia žmogaus vaizduotėje.

 

 Šventosios Romos imperatorius Frydrichas II (1194–1250) 1240–1248 m. parašė galutinį viduramžių traktatą apie sakalininkystę „De arte venandi cum avibus“ („Apie paukščių medžioklės meną“). Tai iliustruotas kertinis akmuo sakalininkystėje ir p. Hadjinicolaou kontrolinis akmuo, nukopijuotas, išverstas ir iliustruotas per vėlesnius šimtmečius. Kelios temos susietos su aidinčiais karališkųjų su paukščiais rankose ar šalia tupinčiais paukščiais atvaizduose: sakalą, dažniausiai patelę, matome, kaip karaliaus konsiglierą; kaip kompanioną ir ginklą; kaip dvasią, susiejančią gamtą su kultūra; ir kaip visagalybės ir dieviškosios teisės simbolį. Liudvikui XII priklausė „De arte venandi“ kopija, demonstruojanti, kaip teigia p. Hadjinicolaou, „karališkos valdžios idėją, susijusią su sakalininkyste kaip imperijos gestu“.

 

 Ankstyvosios sakalininkystės formos, kaip žinome, lygiagrečiai vystėsi Artimuosiuose ir Viduriniuose Rytuose, Kinijoje, Indijoje ir Centrinėje Azijoje gerokai prieš bendrąją erą, o Vakaruose atsirado tik V ir VI a. Keista, bet senovės Egiptas, civilizacija, kuri dievino sakalą visose meno priemonėse, nenaudojo paukščio medžioklei. Senovės asirai buvo aistringi sakalininkai, kaip pavaizduota, pavyzdžiui, bareljefuose, aptiktuose Dur-Šarrukine, dabartiniame Irake, ir datuojamuose VIII amžiuje prieš Kristų. „Kaip prekybos centras prekėmis ir artefaktais, Mesopotamija suvaidino lemiamą vaidmenį, perduodant sakalininkystę, kaip kultūrinę techniką“, – rašo J. Hadjinicolaou, „ne tik tarp Europos ir Azijos, bet ir Šiaurės Afrikos bei arabų pasaulio“.

 

 Sakalininkystei iš išgyvenimo priemonės tapus aristokratijos menu, sakalininkystės baldai – mažas akis dengiantis odinis gobtuvas, kojos žiedas (arba vervelė), plunksnuotas masalas ant lyno (į aitvarą panaši abstrakcija) – patys tapo meno kūriniais. XV amžiaus pabaigos gobtuvas iš Maximilian I kolekcijos yra išskirtinio paukščių stiliaus su kutu viršuje. Paauksuota oda išmarginta gėlėmis ir imperatoriaus herbu – dvigubais Habsburgų ereliais – suteikia sakalui didingos šachmatų figūros įvaizdį.

 

 „Sakalas turi savo valią, ir sakalininkas turi atsižvelgti į šį faktą“, – rašo ponas Hadjinicolaou. Jų yra neverbaliniai santykiai, vykstantys gestų ir vizualioje sferoje, todėl žmogus ir plėšrūnas yra lygūs. Ir taip atsiveria durys alegorijai. Vaizdai, kuriuose sakalininkas dėvi tokias pačias spalvas, kaip aplinkinis kraštovaizdis, sujungia jį su gamta. Valdovo ir sakalo portretai, akis į akį, abu iš profilio, pamatysite, kaip jie atspindi vienas kitą – vienas kitą stiprina suverenai.

 

 Tiesą sakant, suverenitetas – aukščiausia valdžia politinio kūno atžvilgiu; laisvė nuo kontrolės – čia yra svarbi sąvoka. Joks padaras nėra suverenesnis už plėšrąjį paukštį, todėl joks kitas nėra toks tobulas monarcho atitikmuo. „Žinojimas, kaip elgtis su sakalais, buvo vertinamas, kaip analogija gebėjimui valdyti valstybę“, – rašo ponas Hadjinicolaou. Viduramžių Europos „aukšto rango didikai nuo vaikystės buvo mokomi šio meno, kaip ir šokio bei jodinėjimo“. Meno kūriniuose ir ant antspaudų karalius ant žirgo – viena ranka laikė vadeles, o kita – sakalą – buvo pusiausvyros, pusiausvyros tarp žemės ir oro įvaizdis.

 

 Iš tiesų, sakalo, kaip politinės galios įsikūnijimo, statusas padarė jį idealiu diplomatijos ženklu. Mums sakoma, kad valdovai siekė „padaryti įtaką kitiems dvarams, dovanodami sakalus“. „Sakalų dovanos taip pat buvo naudojamos tam, kad būtų užtikrintos tam tikros teritorinių pretenzijų ar palankumo sąlygos“. Tai sugrąžina mus prie Ispanijos Karolio V, kuris rinko šias būtybes. „Brangiausios karališkųjų sakalų dovanos“, – sako ponas Hadjinicolaou, buvo Falco rusticolus, vaiduokliška, apsnigta Arkties rūšis – sakalas ant steroidų. To Karolis V norėjo iš Maltos riterių. Falco rusticolus.“ [1]

 

1. REVIEW --- Books: A Sovereign in the Sky. Jacobs, Laura.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 12 Oct 2024: C.9.

The Art of Medieval Falconry

 

"The Art of Medieval Falconry

By Yannis Hadjinicolaou

Reaktion, 232 pages, $25

'What's this bird, this falcon, that everybody's all steamed up about?" asks Humphrey Bogart as the private eye Sam Spade.

The answer comes from Sydney Greenstreet, who plays Kasper Gutman, a criminal on a quest. "In 1539," he says, "crusading knights persuaded Emperor Charles V to give them the Island of Malta. He made but one condition, that they pay him each year the tribute of a falcon in acknowledgment that Malta was still under Spain." So far, so good. "They hit upon the happy thought of sending him for his first year's tribute not an insignificant live bird but a glorious golden falcon crusted from head to foot with the finest jewels in their coffers."

"The Maltese Falcon" is a 1941 film about a glittering statuette that never made it to Spain, but there's something wrong with that last line, which becomes apparent once you've read Yannis Hadjinicolaou's "The Art of Medieval Falconry," a slim, rich entry into the University of Chicago Press's Medieval Lives series. As Mr. Hadjinicolaou makes convincingly clear, it is the living bird that is a jewel beyond price. And it is the relationship between falcon and falconer that was considered glorious. Would Charles V have preferred a gem-encrusted facsimile? He would not.

Mr. Hadjinicolaou is an assistant professor of art history at the University of Bonn, and "The Art of Medieval Falconry" is his second book. Its title can be understood two ways. The first concerns falconry as it's been depicted in art of the Middle Ages -- in illustrated manuscripts, frescoes, paintings, sculptures, objects and tapestries, many of which have been handsomely reproduced here -- and what these representations, often iconographic, express. The second looks at the practice of falconry itself, an ingenious way to hunt food that eventually transcended, by way of passionate practitioners who tended to be kings, into an Arthurian art form -- one with the gravity of religion and the privilege of wings.

The birds themselves were "perceived as precious," Mr. Hadjinicolaou tells us, "even luxurious aesthetic 'objects.'" He writes that during the medieval period, "depictions of falconry were never mere illustrations of the activity itself. Instead, they evoked visual associations and sparked ideas." It's as if these raptors, trained but not tame, circle and stoop within the human imagination.

The Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II (1194-1250) wrote the Middle Age's definitive treatise on falconry, "De arte venandi cum avibus" ("On the Art of Hunting With Birds"), between 1240 and 1248. It is an illustrated cornerstone of falconry and a touchstone for Mr. Hadjinicolaou, copied, translated and reillustrated through the ensuing centuries. Several themes are bound in the echoing images of royals with their birds in hand or perched nearby: We see the falcon, usually female, as the king's consigliera; as a companion and a weapon; as a spirit that stitches nature to culture; and as a symbol of omnipotence and divine right. Louis XII owned a copy of "De arte venandi," demonstrating, Mr. Hadjinicolaou suggests, "the idea of royal power connected to falconry as an imperial gesture."

Early forms of falconry, we learn, developed in parallel in the Near and Middle East, China, India and Central Asia well before the Common Era and did not arise in the West until the fifth and sixth centuries. Surprisingly, ancient Egypt, a civilization that deified the falcon in all mediums of art, didn't use the bird for hunting. The ancient Assyrians were avid falconers, as depicted, for example, in bas-reliefs discovered at Dur-Sharrukin, in present day Iraq, and dated to the eighth century B.C. "As a trade hub for goods and artefacts, Mesopotamia played a crucial role in the transmission of falconry as a cultural technique," Mr. Hadjinicolaou writes, "between not only Europe and Asia but North Africa and the Arab world."

As falconry evolved from a means of survival to an art of the aristocracy, items of falconry furniture-the tiny eye-covering hood of leather, the leg ring (or vervel), the feathered lure on a line (a kite-like abstraction of a bird)-became works of art themselves. A late-15th-century hood from the collection of Maximilian I is exquisite avian couture with a tassel on top. The gilded leather is embossed with flowers and the emperor's coat of arms -- the double eagles of the Habsburgs -- giving the falcon the aspect of a majestic chess piece.

"The hawk has her own will, and the falconer must take this fact into consideration," Mr. Hadjinicolaou writes. Theirs is a nonverbal relationship that takes place in a gestural-visual sphere, making man and raptor equals. And so the door opens to allegory. Images in which the falconer wears the same colors as the surrounding landscape make him one with nature. Portraits of the ruler and hawk, face to face, both in profile, see them mirroring each other -- mutually reinforcing sovereigns.

In fact, sovereignty -- supreme power over a body politic; freedom from control -- is an important concept here. No creature is more sovereign than the bird of prey, and therefore no other is such a perfect match for a monarch. "Knowing how to handle hawks was seen as an analogy for being able to rule the state," writes Mr. Hadjinicolaou. Medieval Europe's "high-ranking nobles were trained in the art from childhood, as they were trained in dancing and horse-riding." In artworks and on seals, a king on horseback -- one hand holding the reins and the other a falcon -- was an image of equilibrium, a balance between earth and air.

Indeed, the raptor's status as an incarnation of political power made it an ideal token of diplomacy. Rulers sought "to influence other courts through the giving of falcons," we are told. "Falcon gifts were also employed to secure certain conditions for territorial claims or favors." Which brings us back to Spain's Charles V, who collected the creatures. The "most precious of the royal falcon gifts," says Mr. Hadjinicolaou, were gyrfalcons, a ghostly, snowy species of the Arctic -- a peregrine on steroids. That's what Charles V wanted from the knights on Malta. A gyrfalcon." [1]

1. REVIEW --- Books: A Sovereign in the Sky. Jacobs, Laura.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 12 Oct 2024: C.9.