Japan to Host 2007 World Plumbing Championships

[Mulboyne]

Devon24: Plumber off to Japan

UNUSUAL or long-distance jobs are part of a plumber's occupation but one local tradesman never expected to be called upon to work on pipes in Japan! North Devon College student Simon Moys has been invited to represent the UK at the 2007 World Championships after storming to victory at the BPEC Plumbing Skills 2005 National Finals in London...more...

Hope he knows How to use Japanese style toilet.

[Mike Oxlong]

Strikes me as a bit odd that a country where something like 20% of homes still don't have a sewer line, and flush toilets being rare in some neigbourhoods/areas of the country, and they're hosting plumbing championships...?!

[IkemenTommy]

Strikes me as a bit odd that a country where something like 20% of homes still don't have a sewer line, and flush toilets being rare in some neigbourhoods/areas of the country, and they're hosting plumbing championships...?!

What? What you been smoking?
You are saying that 1 out of 5 homes in Japan aren't connected to the sewer line? That is a bit hard to swallow.

[Mike Oxlong]

What? What you been smoking?
You are saying that 1 out of 5 homes in Japan aren't connected to the sewer line? That is a bit hard to swallow.

I'm not sure on the exact ratio, I just remember reading about that particular infrastructure problem in a book (coulda been one of those rants like Dogs and Demons...). I have rented a place with no flush toilet and a septic tank that needed to be pumped by a septic services co. every month or two (in a suburb of a city of 450,000 or so). Many of the houses in my neighbourhood were the same. A metallurgist in a city about 80 km away lived in a house with his family, and they had flush toilets, but no sewer line - just a septic tank that was pumped monthly.

Yes, Japan produces some amazing toilets, but lacks basic infrastructure such as sewer lines that many foreigners take for granted in their home countries. I think this may apply to many areas/industries.

[IkemenTommy]

You may be right about lacking certain infrastructure. Just get off the train at Shibuya or Shinjuku and just smell that rotten stench from the sewers. That's got to be one of the filthiest places on the planet.

[Greji]

Strikes me as a bit odd that a country where something like 20% of homes still don't have a sewer line, and flush toilets being rare in some neigbourhoods/areas of the country, and they're hosting plumbing championships...?!

What? What you been smoking?
You are saying that 1 out of 5 homes in Japan aren't connected to the sewer line? That is a bit hard to swallow.

The first rule of plumbing is don't swallow when in the cesspool.

If also you count flush toilets into septic tanks, the number is phenomenally high! What do you think all those fragrant "vacuum trucks" are doing? The amount of areas having well developed sewer systems are pretty well relegated to the center area of larger cities. Hell there are areas that don't even have running water, or are dependent on small wells (ido).

I would say the number could actually be higher than one out of five, if you consider the entire country side.

BTW, Tommy one of the highest paid unskilled labour jobs in J-land is a hose handler on the "vacuum trucks". There are always openings, if you are thinking of career broading opportunities in the event your new job isn't what you expected!

[IkemenTommy]

Thanks for the offer... but no thanks.
It seems like all the high paying jobs here always have a catch.