If you are young and living in Japan, chances are, either you or someone you know will be living in an apartment with something called a yunitto basu, which is just 'unit bath' pronounced with a Japanese accent. Now, what is a 'unit bath'? (If you have any plans of moving into an apartment in Japan, this little bit of information might prove to be useful.)
A 'unit bath' is a factory-produced bathroom module made of a single material. Because the ceiling, bathtub, and floor are made of a single continuous material, there's no concern for leakage. So far, this is the conventional definition of 'unit bath' as the expression is, or was, used in Japanese. Today, there is the additional, more specific implication of it including a bathtub, a sink, and a toilet in this single module. The picture above, posted by SaddaGocaraRupa on Flickr, gives a good idea of what I mean by this. No, I don't know whether all 'unit baths' are necessarily this cramped, but the ones I've seen look almost exactly like this. This is especially a big deal in Japan, where (unlike back home) the bathtub and toilet areor wereusually in separate rooms, no matter how small.
The merits of a 'unit bath,' I hear, include the fact that it's easy to clean because you can just shower down the entire room. Sorry, I don't know what else; personally, I'm a staunch proponent of toilet-bathtub segregation, so it would be appreciated if someone who prefers 'unit baths' could leave a comment stating why. The only other reason I can imagine is that perhaps it brings the rent down, but I think it's the other way around, i.e., cheaper apartments tend to come with 'unit baths.' Cheap apartments with bathtubs and toilets in separate rooms are in fact nearly impossible to find if you restrict your options to more recently-constructed buildings.
So if you're looking for an apartment in Japan and hear that your prospective room has a 'unit bath,' you'll know what to expect. (At least as of 2007.)
Ellie
Copyright © 2007 Apartment Therapy
Toilet-bathtub segregation? The toilet water isn't going to get in the bathtub...and who cares if some bathtub water splashes on the toilet? Or are you talking about something else? Really, bathrooms like this make cleaning the bathroom almost fun. My bathroom in Europe had a shower whose floor was the same floor as the rest of the bathroom, with a single drain like in the photo. If you had a shower curtain up, an amazingly tiny amount of water escaped from the shower end of the room.
Oh, the cleaning part...it was SO EASY. Spray the dirty areas with cleaning solution, let it sit for a minute, remove all items you didn't want getting wet, and hose down the entire room with the detachable showerhead.
view Akino luna's profile
i had an apartment where the toilet was in a separate room next to the bathroom, which had a sink & shower. i suppose this is the origin of the term water closet? anyway, i rather liked it.
i'm also going to be building a little guest house (shhh! as far as my hometown is concerned, it's 'replacing the shed' and not a living space). i'd LOVE to be able to put in a wet room--which is essentially a tiny bathroom that's a walk-in shower. i saw them in china when i was there about 5 years ago, and it makes sense to me.
view loislane's profile
I had a bathroom like this when I stayed in Seoul for a few months. but that was about eight years ago.
cleaning is easy but if you're living with a few people it can be inconvenient.
view oki's profile
The preference for a separate bath area and toilet area comes from the traditional Japanese style of bathing, I think. You fill the tub with hot water, wash your body OUTSIDE of the tub scooping up the hot water from the tub with a basin to rinse off, and then soak in the tub. Do this in a unit bath and, from what I've experienced at a friend's apartment, you end up with very soggy toilet paper.
I've seen and used my share of unit baths, and most are as cramped as that in the picture, some even worse.
view brainsugar's profile
Japan is a small country with a big population number, that is why they try to minimize the area of their buildings: land is scarce. Another benefit of this is small utility bills.
Bathrooms are waste spaces, not places to hang out at, that is why you want them to be small.
view gabiushka's profile
Anyone know how to import one of these into the US? I need one for a very small bathroom I'll be building in my house.
view mep7851's profile
I loved my unit bath, and yes for sure it was as cramped as the one pictured above. For a single person, the unit bath is perfect--so easy to clean. The dream, though, is to have a traditional Japanese bath--a big tiled number with the handheld shower low on the wall outside of the tub, and a stool to sit on while soaping up and rinsing off. Such luxury. But the really important part is the separate toilet room housing the ultra deluxe Japanese toilet with heated seat, bidet option, and a million other bells and whistles that I can't recall.
view godzilla's profile