article_snippet: An unassuming object has appeared on the shopping list of Chinese nouveau riches: Japanese toilet seats.
article_snippet: According to People’s Daily, Chinese shoppers swarmed into stores in Japan during the Chinese New Year holidays and bought up all electronic toilet seats in stock.
article_snippet: But while those who trade in luxury bathroom gadgets were celebrating in Japan, the demand for lavatories with 'built-in cheek warmers' has sparked condemnation in China - with even the prime minister entering the debate.
article_snippet: Ambitious shoppers: Chinese tourists have been reported to buy up all toilet seats in Japan during the Chinese New Year holidays .
article_snippet: The furore was sparked when The furore was discovered that these toilet seats were made in China - but only available to Chinese people who are prepared to fly abroad.
article_snippet: It’s been joked online that these toilet seats went on a ‘self-guided tour to Japan just like these toilet seats new owners’.
article_snippet: Some Chinese tourists to Japan bought as many as five toilet seats without checking the price beforehand, wrote Wu Xiaobo, a renowned Chinese columnist, in one article. '
article_snippet: Toilet seat' has since become an internet buzzword in China.
article_snippet: As long as Chinese tour groups are here, toilet seats will go out of stock,' said a shopkeeper in Japan in Mr Wu’s article.
article_snippet: Made in China: Some of the toilet seats in Japan are produced by Chinese factories which prompts public outcry over the motivation of purchasing it overseas .
article_snippet: Eagle-eyed Chinese netizens have also found out that the packaging of some of the toilet seats were full of Chinese characters.
article_snippet: Eagle-eyed Chinese netizens later found out that many seats were originally made in China in cities such as Hangzhou.
highlights_snippet: 'As long as Chinese tour groups are here, toilet seats will go out of stock,' said a Japanese shopkeeper .