I couldn’t let these go. This caught my eye a couple days ago, when I was searching for some lighter news:

Japan firm apologizes after toilets smoke, catch fire
4/16/2007
TOKYO (Reuters) – Twenty-six smoking toilets, and three more on fire, put a Japanese toilet maker in the hot seat on Monday.

Toto Ltd., known for its high-tech toilets with bidets that have blow-drying, air purification and seat-warming functions, apologized to consumers and offered free checks and repairs after some of its toilets with bidets and heated seats sent up smoke and three caught fire.
full story

Two days later:

Another toilet-maker in the hotseat
4/18/2007
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s second-biggest toilet maker INAX Corp. has joined porcelain powerhouse Toto with tales of smoking toilets and burning bidets.

INAX, owned by JS Group Corp., said it had not made public seven cases of malfunctioning “washlets” — a combination toilet and bidet common in Japanese homes — that smoked or caught fire from 1991 to 2005.
full story

My favorite quote from the second article:

“We’ve been promoting a culture of washing one’s backside since 1980…”

Yep, a culture. Maybe something got lost in the translation?

Anyway, this article has an accompanying video.