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Post-ramen poo troubles solved by Japanese restaurant chain’s crazy bathroom design

Casey Baseel Jul 4, 2017
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Ramen chain is committed to stellar customer service through all parts of the digestive cycle.

Just because ramen is moderately priced doesn’t mean it’s not a highly developed part of Japanese food culture. A ramen meal offers myriad elements to appreciate, from the flavor of the broth to the texture of the noodles and even the sounds of enthusiastic slurping.

However, if you’ve eaten a lot of ramen, you might be familiar with one of its less pleasant aspects. Compared to the broth for soba or udon, the other common varieties of Japanese noodles, ramen broth is pretty oily. Chashu pork, a common ramen topping, is also on the fatty side, and while all that greasiness can taste might good, it also means that a significant bowl movement is usually the epilogue to a fine ramen meal.

This brings us to Ichiran, which you might remember as the chain whose newest branch had a line for 250 consecutive hours immediately after opening. Because its ramen is so delicious, customers would probably cut Ichiran some slack if the chain’s service was less than stellar, but such is Ichiran’s commitment to comprehensive customer satisfaction that it even designs its bathrooms with post-ramen pooping in mind.

https://twitter.com/hibi46490404/status/878559389967200256

Ichiran doesn’t want customers to get stuck without toilet paper, and instead of standing an extra roll on the back of the toilet, it mounts multiple holders on the wall, each with its own cylinder of paper.

https://twitter.com/hinapooh99/status/873917466660950016 https://twitter.com/kazuyuki6248149/status/873125419922317312

▼ Some branches go for a gothic look…

TLで見たけど、浜松の和田の自動車街にある一蘭のトイレもこんなだったw
思わずパシャリしたけど、どれを使えばええねん！！ってなる(笑)

そして、“あ、ここだけじゃなかったんだ、これを上回るとこもあるんだ”と思い知らされた。#一蘭 pic.twitter.com/IRqswrvsVx

— ゆみさん (@yumi528_bike) June 28, 2017

▼ …while others opt for more contemporary aesthetics.

大好きな一蘭のラーメン。
この前ヒトラーした時の( Ꙭ)
初めてトイレに入って驚いた🙌😏#一蘭 #ラーメン #らぁめん #🍜 #🚻 #🚽 pic.twitter.com/28qi5etaiK

— こまぐるみ (@MEGU_Fukuda) June 6, 2017

Customers are free to grab sheets from whichever roll speaks to their sensibilities, although some branches have notices asking bathroom users to stick to using one roll per visit, instead of mixing and matching from different sources.

京都の一蘭のトイレがわけわからなさ過ぎて笑った pic.twitter.com/FMenlPjlrV

— こういち (@Koichi4111) June 6, 2017

一蘭のトイレの選択の自由さがすごい pic.twitter.com/tLJgoxk2uN

— ある氏 (@x71x43xy) June 21, 2017

While each holder is ostensibly outfitted with the same brand of paper, the lower rolls, which can be most easily reached while sitting down, seem to be the most popular choices, judging by photos that show them running out of paper before their higher-altitude brethren.

昨日一蘭いって鼻水取ろうとトイレに行ったら...😅 pic.twitter.com/EJFSNQw0Kn

— しょー⚡︎S15 (@syo0806m) June 11, 2017

一蘭福岡天神店のトイレ、トイレットペーパーを取るのに戸惑う pic.twitter.com/IQqRJiMtVm

— じょん (@CM_johnSV) June 9, 2017

It’s an especially nice idea since Ichiran allows you to make your ramen punishingly spicy, if you so desire. With some Ichiran locations having a dozen holders on the wall, it seems like the paper products should be enough to last the restaurant the entire day. Nevertheless, Ichiran posts notices saying that it checks the supplies ever hour, replacing any empty holders with a fresh supply.

https://twitter.com/yumiriiis/status/879914867867623424

Oh, and speaking of that notice, the Japanese text concludes with the helpful offer that in the unlikely event that every single holder in the bathroom is devoid of paper, you can tear the notice of the wall and wipe yourself with it.

トイレで大爆笑してる pic.twitter.com/33ukqdv0pg

— あいだま (@aidama_0324) June 27, 2017

And if you needed any more proof that Ichiran’s bathrooms are truly a godsend…

一蘭のトイレなうに使っていいよ(*´ω｀*) pic.twitter.com/uIwisY64vR

— らむむん (@lhambmun) June 21, 2017

…consider the fact that at least one of them seems to also radiate a divine light, as befitting its status as a place of salvation for digesting diners.

Related: Ichiran location list
Source: Togech, Twitter/@yumiriiis