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[China: World Residence Tour] Why bathroom and toilet are relatively small in Chinese households?

• Release date: Sep 28, 2020
• Update date: Sep 05, 2025
• 35091 Views

• Usage and altitude
• Furniture and home furnishings
• China
• Culture/Habit

In the previous article, we introduced the differences in the layout and usage of kitchens in Japan and China depending on their lifestyles. These differences do not exist only in the kitchen, but also in the bathroom and toilet. In this article, we would like to introduce the differences in these two areas and the backgrounds seen in Japan and China.

Japan and China Have Very Different Views on Bathing

First of all, the difference between Japan and China in terms of bathrooms can be summed up in one word: the presence or absence of a bathtub. In Japan, the custom of taking a bath in a bathtub is traditionally strong. For this reason, even if the bathroom itself is very small, it often comes with a bathtub. For example, if you see a prefabricated unit bath called a “Unit bath” in Japan, the bathtub takes up about half the space. In China, on the other hand, most homes are equipped with showers only, and bathtubs are rarely seen except in villas or hotels where there is a lot of space.

Shower-only bathrooms in China (left) and bathrooms with bathtubs in Japan (right)
（Source：Consumer database (Consumer Life Panorama)）

In both Japan and China, the purpose of bathing is to keep the body clean. Focusing on the flow of bathing, it is common in Japan to first take a shower and then take a bath. From the Chinese point of view, they might wonder why it is necessary to take a bath every day. Well, there is a big difference between Japan and China in terms of the way of thinking for bathing. For Chinese people, the purpose of taking a bath is simply to keep the body clean, but for the Japanese, taking a bath is not only to keep the body clean, but also to “relax themselves”. Actually, there is a big difference in bathing habits between the south and north of China. In the south of China, the weather is hot and humid, so people sweat a lot. For this reason, showering is considered as the most efficient way to cleanse the body. On the other hand, in the northern part of China, the air is dry and the cold season lasts long. Sweating is not as frequent in the north as in the south, so taking a shower every day, on the contrary, would end up cooling down the body. To avoid cooling down the body too much, those who live in the northern part of China wash their bodies once a week or so. There is also a custom called "scrubbing" (搓澡 in Chinese) to remove the grime that has accumulated on the body over the week. Some people do it at home in the shower room, but most people go to a public bath and have it done by a specialist. Under such circumstances, it is natural to think that the bathtub is an extra item that takes up a significant amount of space in the bathroom. Also, in Chinese households, you often see a few washbowls piled up in the shower room or near the sink. Families who don't take a shower every day usually have at least two of these bowls on hand. One is for washing face, and the other is for washing feet.

washbowl, a common sight in Chinese shower rooms
（Source：Consumer database (Consumer Life Panorama)） 

The living area of Chinese households is still not large enough

Besides the presence or absence of a bathtub, if you look at the overall layout, you will see another difference. It is the spatial arrangement of the following three areas: the bathroom, washbasin, and toilet. In Chinese households, the shower room, washbasin, and toilet are often in the same space, while in Japanese households, they are often independent of each other.

Layout of bathroom, washbasin, and toilet in a typical Japanese home (red boxes)
（Source：Consumer database (Consumer Life Panorama)） 

In fact, the reason for this difference in the use of space lies in the dwelling floor area. It is often said that a Japanese house is a rabbit hutch, but if you look at the actual statistical data, you will find that surprisingly, even compared to Japan, the dwelling floor area of Chinese households is small. The figure below shows the transition of housing building area per capita in China's urban areas. The building area here means the dwelling floor area plus the "public denominator area," which is the total area of common space of the apartment building divided by the number of units, so the actual private area is much smaller.
Nevertheless, for the first time in 2019, China's urban areas have reached Japan's 2013 level, which suggests that the dwelling floor area of Chinese urban households is not that large.

Housing building area per capita in urban China
Source：China：China National Bureau of Statistics
Japan：Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, "2013 Housing and Land Survey（2013’s data） In China, people who live in apartments built ages ago often sacrifice the space for bathrooms and toilets in order to make their living rooms and bedrooms as spacious as possible.
However, in recent years, with economic growth, the dwelling floor area per person has also increased. With this background, now that people are becoming more particular about their living environment, there will be an increasing demand for interiors that at least separate the washbasin and toilet from the shower room, in order to achieve "dry-wet separation. Nevertheless, it will still be a long time before all rooms are independent spaces like in Japan.

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  Author profile

  Mr. Yang Yan

  Chinese researcher living in Japan, providing information on the actual living conditions of overseas consumers, mainly in China. I am a shower person who has not yet made it a habit to take a bath even though it has been five years since I came to Japan.

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  Editor profile

  Mr. Yusuke Tatsuda

  Is in charge of creating the Global Market Surfer website. I'm a true bath enthusiast who enjoys relaxing in the bathtub at home or on business trips.