Bathroom toilets really have simple mechanisms. There's the bowl where all liquid and solid excretions go. There's the tank situated above and behind the bowl where the flushing valve is stored along with a fresh supply of water. And you have the flush handle which starts the flushing process.

It doesn't take much to learn how it works. Once you flag down the flush handle, everything inside the bowl is flushed out and into a pipe while the supply of water from the tank flows into the bowl replacing the old one with a clean supply.

A couple of advancements have been made like replacing the handle with a button for pressing instead of pushing a lever and some water-conservation mechanisms.

The Japanese however have invented toilets which have more functions that I could ever imagine. They're mostly electrical in nature. Some features include music for your listening pleasure, automatic seat covers, a heater, washer, dryer and sanitizer. You could think of one of these newer models as a human dishwasher. I actually saw one of these toilets in a home depot and they cost around $1,500.

Here's a glimpse of what they can do.