Chinese tourists riding the recent rise of the yuan are buying up luxury handbags, milk powder, and in the case of heading to Japan - hi-tech toilet seats, news portal thepaper.cn reported on Sunday.
The recent devaluation of the yen, the appreciation of the Chinese yuan and changes in duty-free shopping policy have all contributed to the bathroom fixture fixation, wrote finance commentator Wu Xiaobo in a widely circulated article on January 25.
Once saddled with an 8-percent tax, the now duty-free seats - with built-in heating, a blow drier and even a bidet function - are being snapped up for 2,000 yuan ($319) each.
Some stores are already flush out of stock. "Chinese tourists are particularly fond of these seats this year," said Li Wei, an employee at Akky One, one of the duty-free stores that dot Tokyo's Akihabara district. "You have to rush to buy one, regardless of the brand, because there will be nothing left on the shelf by afternoon."
"Some of the Japanese-made toilet seats are also sold in China, but I feel the quality of the products sold in Japan is better," one Chinese tourist said.
More than a dozen buses bring Chinese tourists to duty-free stores in Akihabara every morning, according to China Central Television.
Other popular items among Chinese tourist include electric cookers, shaving razors, ceramic knives and electric toothbrushes, according to thepaper.cn.
Many netizens attested to the quality of Japanese goods.
"There is no such thing as a sunset industry, only sunset companies and sunset people," the Xinhua News Agency commented.
"Though carrying cookers around in Japan is shameful, it is more shameful that Chinese companies can't produce a better toilet seat or electric cooker," a Net user said.