Toilet maker Toto looks to become a global fixture

KITAKYUSHU, Japan -- On the humid casting floor of Toto's sanitary ware factory in Kitakyushu, two workers in blue short-sleeved shirts and gray caps carefully use fingers and thumbs to smooth out the lines and bumps in a ceramic clay bowl that has emerged from its mold. An object that will soon turn into a sophisticated piece of electronic consumer hardware is starting to be formed in a traditional manner.

The Japanese electronic bidet toilet, an icon of water jet hygiene, warm seats, soft lighting and self-opening lids, is a fixture in the country that developed it but has taken a long time to catch on elsewhere.