Who needs a toilet made out of solid gold when Japan has these?

Phil said it best: "Japan is the best place in the world to get diarrhea."

The folks at Phil and Scott and Chris and Auggie Do Earth can go no longer without shedding light on the wonder of Japan's sanitation services, by far the cleanest and most technologically advanced in the world.  We could eat food off the bathroom floors, even in subway stations.  We wouldn't — and didn't — but we could.  And the toilets feature not only heated seats, but spray, bidet and dry features as well.  It's enough to make the guys want to pee sitting down.  No, really.  

We didn't, but we still spent plenty of time sitting on these bathroom beauties.  At least I did.  Something (maybe all that raw fish?) did not sit well in my stomach during several days this week, leaving me thankful that I found myself in Japan and not in North Africa or Peru (where running water had run away).  

But enough about toilets.  We've had an unbelievable time during our week in Japan, during which we've exhausted our vocal chords singing countless cheesy yet classic karaoke songs till dawn, watched a fish auction, eaten breakfast sushi, gone to arcades and maid cafes, learned Japan's revisionist war history, watched Japanese baseball, seen old friends and met new ones.  Our Asian re-entry could not have gone better, and today we're off to South Korea.

Look out for our run-in with soft-shell turtles, to likely be featured in Phil's next gastronomic adventure.