Why stand when you can sit?

Thanks to such features as behind-rinsing bidets, heated seats, and even speakers that emit the sound of birds chirping or a babbling brook to overcome any actual defecation-derived noises, Japanese toilets are a wonderful place to be seated when you have to take a dump. But what about when you have to pee?

Japanese Internet portal Shirabee recently polled 300 men between the ages of 20 and 69, asking them whether they stand or sit when making a liquid-based bathroom trip. In total, 29.3 percent said they take a seat when taking a piss, with some surprisingly large differences between age groups.

The biggest advocates of sitting while peeing were men in their 30s, with 41.5 percent of them doing so. Next came men in their 20s, with 35.4 percent sitting instead of standing.

A noticeable dip occurred among older men, though. In the 40-49 age bracket, 28.3 percent choose to sit, and men in their 50s were the least likely to do so, at just 18.3 percent. Finally, 20 percent of men in their 60s, the oldest demographic in the survey, are sitters.

Unfortunately, the researchers didn’t ask the participants why they responded as they did, so we’re left to speculate as to why younger men are more likely to take a seat. Perhaps it has something to do with squat toilets having become far less common in Japan over the past few decades, and young Japanese men who grew up in a home where they could sit to poo figure they may as well sit to pee. Or perhaps Japan’s love of cleanliness, coupled with men gradually taking on more housework responsibilities than they did in the past, has them thinking that the risk of splashback from a standing piss is one they don’t want to take. And as for the slight uptick among men aged 60 to 69? Maybe it has something to do with their stream slowing and their knees weakening as they grow older, making a place to sit seem extra-inviting, especially if it’s heated in the winter.

Likewise, the survey didn’t ask men who stand why that’s their preference either, although speed, convenience, and the reduced chance of middle-aged man indirect dick kissing all seem like likely motivations.

Source: Shirabee via Niconico News via Jin
Top image: Pakutaso