No, Seriously: Japanese Company Invents Poop-Powered Motorcycle

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Toto's Toilet Bike Neo ProjectEasy Rider, eat your heart out.

Seriously Japan? Seriously? Every time I think that Japan’s invented the most ridiculous thing, whether it’s a burger made out of poop, sex doll dentistry robot, or a toilet-based video game, Japan just keeps taking it to the next level. All of these inventions are basically past the point of self-parody now.

But now the Japanese company Toto has upped the stakes yet again with their poop-powered motorcycle. Why on earth would anybody think that this is a good idea?

Toto

What is Toto? Before you say anything no, the Toto I’m talking about isn’t the dog from the Wizard of Oz, or the 80s band that had that song “Africa.” If you’ve ever seen or heard of those futuristic Japanese toilets with control panels that heat the seat, generate a courtesy flush noise and have a built-in bidet, it’s probably been made by Toto. In fact, Toto has even trademarked a name for these modern toilet control panels: “washlets.”

A washlet#1 sign you’re a foreigner: taking pictures of the toilet.

Not only has Toto conquered the bathroom in Japan, but it’s made a huge dent in the Japanese business world too. Toto is a major Japanese company, part of Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock market, and worth almost US$5 billion.

Waste Not, Want Not

The 3/11 disaster caused a huge energy shortage in Japan. Tons of power plants (including the infamous nuclear plants in Fukushima) were taken out of commission because of the earthquakes and tsunami, so the government began pushing for Japanese companies to cut down on their energy usage.

Companies have done this in lots of different ways. Some companies have used less air conditioning in the summer and encouraged their workers to wear cooler clothes. Toto, on the other hand, set their scientists hard at work in making a poop-powered vehicle.

Well okay, Toto is doing more than just that. The company aims to cut its total emissions by 50% over the next couple of years by doing lots of different things. The poop motorcycle is more of a icon for the whole effort rather than the product of it all.

Toilet Bike Neo Project

A man standing by the Toilet Bike

“Just a few…more…steps…”

But let’s get down to the motorcycle itself. It’s called the “Toilet Bike Neo Project,”and it’s fueled by “biogas,” a word I can only assume is a euphemism for “lots of poop.” The motorcycle will cruise from a Toto plant in the southern island of Kyushu all the way to Tokyo starting today, October 6. The cycle will ride around for about a month, stopping to educate people on Toto’s conservation efforts and visiting exciting locales such as this butt-shaped rock (yes, I’m serious.)

Graphics of the feature of the Toilet BikeBut that’s not even mentioning the cool features of the Toilet Bike Neo Project. The bike itself has a few novel features that you won’t find on any other poop-powered motorcycle:

Talking Toilet

But it wouldn’t be a Toto toilet unless it was somehow over the top. So that’s why the Toilet Bike Project not only plays music, but also features a talking toilet, complete with a lid that moves up and down like a mouth. All of the childhood nightmares you thought you were long past have culminated into a real-life, ivory terror.

[yframe url='www.youtube.com/watch?v=77nvLGWIfT8']

Light Up Messages

Not only does this motorcycle run on biogas, but it has other cool features too. There are a series of LEDs on the side of the motorcycle and a small computer that controls them. As the motorcycle makes its rounds across the country, it can use the LEDs to write messages as it rides on by. It seems that these messages can’t really be seen unless they’re captured by a long-exposure camera, but it’s still a cool effect.

What kind of messages will the Toilet Bike Project spread? I would hope that it would warn people to stay away from the poop bike and its horrible stench, but more realistically, it will probably be used to spread messages about energy conservation and Toto.

Lightcycles from the movie TronYeah, kind of like that.

You can check out the project’s official site here, or a good write-up on Spoon & Tamago here.

What do you think of this biogas motorcycle? Do you think it can catch on in the real world, or is it just a novelty? Let me know in the comments!

P.S. Are you already building your own poop bike? Tell me on Twitter.
P.S.S. Would you buy a poop-powered car? Let me know on Facebook.

 

  • Ar

    Finally! Now I no longer have to choose between driving and pooping! Thanks Toto!

  • http://www.tofugu.com/ Hashi

    To drive or to poop: the eternal debate.

  • Learn-Japanese.ca

    That’s very interesting.. I’m sure it’ll generate a lot of attention, although I don’t know how long i’d personally like to stick around. It’s kind of gross hahaha 

    I’d like to try the taking a shot at night with a prolonged exposure though, I’m sure it’d be very “tron” as you suggest haha XD

  • YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

    Do poop and drive.

  • Kincaid42

    it would be kinda awkward if you see a cute girl ride it..

  • http://www.tofugu.com koichi

    I would argue it’d be awkward seeing anyone riding it … :3

  • http://www.tofugu.com/ Hashi

    Except for that crazy homeless guy. It might be a step up for him.

  • http://profiles.google.com/jonadab.theunsightlyone Jonadab the Unsightly One

    > The poop motorcycle is more of a icon

    This.  It’s not supposed to be practical.  It’s a symbolic gesture, a PR move, a form of advertising.  It’s not like they’re trying to sell thousands of the things or saying that 80% of the motorcycles on the road will be poop-powered by 2015, or anything like that.  The bike is just a vehicle (pun intended) for their publicity campaign.

  • http://www.tofugu.com koichi

    Based on the article, I imagine Hashi would agree with you, I’m guessing?

  • http://www.tofugu.com koichi

    bidet shower!

  • Anonymous

    I heard Toto and all I could think of was the commercial with the penguins changing the washlet seat XDD  But the big question is this: is there a market for this sort of thing? ._.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_AFZRCIQ7COLVH7XZ4LSILC7EZM J

    I’m wondering how many people were reading this while pooping, and do you get better biogas mileage on the runs, or harder poop? ^_^

  • http://twitter.com/Ball_Tazer The Ball Tazer

    OMG HASHI, KOICHI. =P This reminds me. Fart energy has already been invented before this using CATS!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvn4k970Qlo

  • http://twitter.com/shollum Christopher

    Should have been urine powered, though. It could have been made a lot less awkward and according to something I read or saw or something a lot more powerful. That is because urine can be used to create… wait for it… jet fuel!

    Plus if it was urine powered then there would be one more hilarious drunken excuse recorded on a cops dash camera.
    Cop: “Sir, please step away from the vehicle. Have you had anything to drink tonight?”
    Man: “No shir ahm nah jrunk or nothin’. Ahzh, jush hadzh to fhill zha tank up.”
    Cop: “But did you drink any alcohol tonight?”
    Man: “Yesh offisher, beer goezh shru fashtahr. Buh, Ahzh nah jrunk zhough.”

    By the way, my Twitter used to say Christopher. They just recently decided to change how it shows off site.

  • Anybody

    Hashi,

    This is brilliant. You say “Why
    on earth would anybody think that this is a good
    idea?” Great question.  The simple
    answer is that energy is a matter of global security.

    Here’s a science
    lesson: The law of conservation of energy is
    a law of physics. It states that the total amount of energy in an isolated
    system remains constant over time (is said to be conserved over
    time). A consequence of this law is that energy can neither be created nor be
    destroyed: it can be transformed from one form (food) to another form (Human
    Waste) or transferred from one place to another.

    Here’s a math lesson:
    China has population of 1.2 billion people. There is not enough land, water and
    oil to sustain their population.

    Here’s an engineering
    lesson: Mechanical engineering has produced large gas powered farming
    equipment is used to cultivate food fast enough to satisfy the demand of a
    large population. Agricultural engineering has produced seeds capable of faster
    and larger crop yields, at what expense? No one knows as of yet. Maybe the
    cancer will help curb global population growth.

    Here’s a business
    lesson: What are the consequences when a nation like China can’t supply
    enough food, water and oil to meet the demands of 1.2 billion people? This
    leads us to our history lesson…

    Here’s a history
    lesson: Nations that have a high demand for something, like oil, will use a
    navy, an air force, and an army to take control of oil. By the way, China is
    building the largest Navy the world has ever seen.

    Here’s a technology
    lesson: The “Toilet Bike Neo Project” technology
    can apply the laws of physics, satisfy the basic needs of a growing global
    population and satisfy the basic laws of supply and demand while not creating
    an environment of war.  

    Why on earth would anybody think that this is a good
    idea?

    Sincerely,

    Anybody

  • http://www.tofugu.com/ Hashi

    The tricky thing is how efficiently would a biogas engine work versus oil. It’s probably many times less efficient than conventional fuels.

  • Owned

    Son: MOM? WHERE ARE MY KEYS?
    Mother: Right here, where are you going?
    Son: I NEED TO POOP.

  • Kincaid42

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  • gentok

    I had a feces augmented car. Someone broke into it to steal the CD player. Apart from taking my CD player they filled seat pockets full of poop. I think my car was ahead of Toto by several years.