雙語財經新聞 第25期:日本只能體驗馬桶
In Japan, the global leader in high-tech toilet design, the latest restroom marvel should come with a health warning for hypochondriacs — it doubles as a medical lab that can really spoil your day.
Japanese toilets have long and famously dominated the world of bathroom hygiene with their array of functions, from posterior shower jets to perfume bursts and noise-masking audio effects for the easily-embarrassed.
長期以來，日本在衛生潔具方面一直處於世界領先地位,其所設計的馬桶因功 能多樣化而聞名於世，這其中包括背部淋浴噴頭、香水噴灑裝置以及掩蓋人們在上 廁所時發出繼尬聲音的遮音工具等。The latest “intelligent” model, manufactured by market leader Toto, goes a step further and isn’t for the faint-hearte: it offers its users an instant health check-up every time they answer the call of nature. Designed for the housing company Daiwa House with Japan’s growing army of elderly in mind, it provides urine analysis, takes the user’s blood pressure and body temperature, and measures their weight with a built-in floor scale.
這款最新的“智能”馬桶模型由知名衛具公司東陶公司製造,其功能上又有新 突破，但不適合膽小者使用：因爲這款馬桶每次都會對如廁者進行一次即時身體檢 查。這款馬桶是爲房產公司大和房建設計的,考慮到日本日益壯大的老年人隊伍， 這款馬桶兼有尿液分析、爲使用者量血壓和體溫，並用其內置地秤爲使用者測量體 重等多項功能。
“Our chairman had the idea when he was at a hospital and saw people waiting for health checks. He thought it would be better if they could do the health tests at home,” says Akiho Suzuki, an architect at Daiwa House.
大和房建的建築師鈴木明步說我們的老闆在一家醫院看見人們排隊等待體 檢時產生了這一想法，他覺得如果人們能在家就做體檢會更方便。”Toto’s engineers developed a receptacle inside the basin to collect the urine for sugar content and temperature checks, and an armband to monitor blood pressure. The readout is displayed on a wall-mounted computer screen.
東陶公司的工程師們在馬桶上安裝了一種尿液收集器，用於檢測血糖和體溫， 並帶有監控血壓的臂帶。檢査結果會在安裝在牆上的電腦屏幕上顯示出來。“With the current model, your data is sent automatically to your personal computer, and then you can email it to your doctor,” said Suzuki. “In the next generation model, the data will be sent automatically to family members or doctors via the Internet,” she said. The electronic marvel, called the “Intelligence Toilet”，is capable of storing the data of up to five different people and retails for 350,000 to 500,000 yen (about 4,100 to 5,850 dollars) in Japan, she said. “For now our
customers are essentially middle-aged and senior people. But we hope the young generation will also become more health-conscious.”鈴木說:“目前的模型能將你的數據自動傳輸到你的個人電腦上，然後你可以 通過電子郵件發送給你的醫生。下一代模型則能將數據自動通過網絡發送給你的 家庭成員或醫生。”她說，這一被稱爲“智能馬桶”的電子衛具能夠儲存五個人的數 據，目前在日本的零售價格爲每套35萬到50萬日元(合4100到5850美元)。“目前我 們的顧客主要是中老年人。不過我們希望年輕人也能更加重視自己的健康。”
The model is the latest advance in a string of sophisticated toilets, known as “washlets” in Japan, which have become ubiquitous* in recent decades.這一模型是日本高 科技馬桶系列衛洗麗的 一款最新產品，近幾十年 來,衛洗麗產品在日本已 經相當普及。
