Toilet meal (Japanese: 便所飯,) is a Japanese slang term and social phenomenon referring to the act of an individual eating a meal in a toilet room.[1] In modern Japan, some people eat alone in a bathroom for various reasons,[2] the most common being that they do not wish to be seen eating alone. Other reasons include saving money from eating out,[3] to hide from co-workers in a busy workplace,[4] or simply because they find it more comfortable.
Since toilet meals are often solitary and clandestine, others are unlikely to be aware of its occurrence. For this reason, "toilet meals" were initially regarded as an urban legend,[5] but subsequent investigations have confirmed the phenomenon as relatively widespread. The term "toilet meal" has even been referenced in various popular media, most notably in various Japanese television shows.[6] [7]
Since private lavatory rooms are not designed for eating, eating postures vary from person to person. Typically people sit on the lid of a Western-style toilet-- this is the most natural posture for eating in a lavatory and is shown in most fictional portrayals.[8] Other ways involve crouching in front of the toilet or standing in front of a Japanese-style squat toilet, which is at floor level.[9] Alternatively, the person may crouch or squat in front of the toilet. In the case of a Japanese-style toilet, the food is rested on the knees; the lid of a Western-style toilet can be used as a table. 100 Most Popular Words in Japan says, "If you need to spread out your meal, lower the lid of the toilet bowl to make it look like a table. The disadvantage of this posture, however, is that it is very tiring, and the sight of the toilet seat and water tank can be distracting". This posture occurs in some fictional portrayals; for example, in episode 33 of the manga Zekkai Gakkyu, the main character Ohno eats squatting in a toilet room with a Japanese-style toilet.[10]
thumb|upright=0.7|In a 2013 survey, about 12% of respondents said they had had a toilet meal.Social research has been conducted to find out how many people have eaten a meal on a toilet. Although figures vary depending on the survey, one survey conducted in 2013 found that 12.08% of respondents said they had eaten on the toilet, with a higher percentage of younger people and women.
In Japan, there are few laws regarding toilet meals, since they would be difficult to enforce. Some ways that it could pose legal enforcement would be if the occupant stays in the bathroom for a long time and prevents others from using it or leaving garbage and causing sanitary issues, however these have often been attributed to stomach issues, such as diarrhea.[15]
Eating in a toilet is not desirable from a hygiene standpoint. According to the Training Manual for School Meal Preparation Personnel published by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, "Since various pathogenic microorganisms exist in stool and are excreted with stool during defecation, toilets are places with a high risk of being contaminated by pathogens that cause food poisoning. During defecation, there is a high possibility of the toilet bowl being contaminated by norovirus and other pathogens, and of toilet doorknobs, etc. being contaminated through the hands and fingers".[16] The report devotes pages to lavatories as a place where food handlers need to take special care.
A toilet meal is often seen as embarrassing or a sign of social ineptitude. In Japanese social life, attractiveness is often measured by the number of friends a person has, and those who are seen as friendless are often evaluated negatively on that basis alone. Therefore, people who fear being perceived as friendless and unattractive secretly eat in the toilet. Daisuke Tsuji, an associate professor of sociology at Osaka University, wrote in Asahi Shimbun: "Those who fail to make friends within a limited relationship must continue to endure not only loneliness but also the gaze of being branded as a strange person with no friends. They are marginalized in a double sense. The only place left to escape the gaze is the private room in the bathroom".[17] [18] Tsuji believes that the solution to the problem is to "create an environment in which children and young people can form diverse relationships outside of their peer group, including a review of the class system", and that the problem of the toilet meal can be solved by supplementing multi-layered human relationships.[19]
There is a movement at universities to address the issue of students eating toilet meals from the perspective of interpersonal communication. When the issue was first reported, there was little awareness that it was occurring. In response to inquiries by Asahi Shimbun in 209, the University of Tokyo's public relations group said, "It may be that we just haven't noticed it, but we have never heard of it", and Meijo University's general policy department responded, "We don't recognize it, so we don't give any guidance".[5]