NinDiGu t1_iswvl1f wrote on October 19, 2022 at 8:23 AM

Until the late 1950's the majority of fertilizer in Japan was untreated human waste.

Old style Japanese houses had a room, for pooping, that was over a pit that was emptied weekly and used as fertilizer. An indoor outhouse so to speak.

There are still many houses that use this system, usually in more rural areas.

So these are private and indoor, but not in the way most Westerners think of private and indoor.

TWiesengrund t1_isyfvgc wrote on October 19, 2022 at 4:49 PM

And most garbage like broken pottery was collected and used for land reclamation projects. There's an interesting display in the Edo-Tokyo-Museum about it. We used to recycle before we used to recycle.

NinDiGu t1_it7j76b wrote on October 21, 2022 at 2:33 PM

> Edo-Tokyo-Museum

That is a stunning building, and a stunning museum.

TWiesengrund t1_it7z3pv wrote on October 21, 2022 at 4:19 PM

Absolutely! And I was blown away by the fact they offer free tour guides inside if they are available. I had a private tour in 2018 and I am still grateful for that.