The New York Time has an article today The Rise of the Japanese Toilet (behind paywall) that says the company is selling more washlets (bidets) than ever. They unleashed more than 300 employees to test and optimize aspects like the water stream’s flow, angle and temperature in 1960s and launched their first product in 1980. It did not sell very well initially. In 1982 they launched this advertisement in prime TV, just before the dinner time. A lot of people were angry and upset. They called Toto, they called the TV stations. But the commercial worked wonders to get them talking.
They unleashed a similar shocker on america. In 2007 they launched a billboard in NY Times Square. America was not ready for it (may not be yet). Times Square Church, an interdenominational church took them to court. Toto relented, but still came up with another interesting billboard.
Toto says they sold 10 million units between 2019-2022 (the COVID pandemic might have helped the rest of the world paying attention).
I got to sit on a warmed Toto seat in 1999 when I was living in Tokyo. The somewhat tongue in cheek essay I wrote (in Tamil) about my experience was my first published print article and received a lot of attention. When I moved to Toronto, I dearly missed two things Zojirushi rice cooker (about it, another day) which I purchased within the first year. For my first Toro Washlet in Canada I had to wait 10 years.