音姫 (The Sound Princess)

Have you ever felt embarrassed by the natural gaseous and liquid sounds we all make while doing Number 2?  For anyone who has, the public restroom in Japan is the place to be.

Witness the Otohime:



Incredibly, there's a Wikipedia article entitled "Toilets in Japan."  I think it's pretty good.  In the "Japan-specific accessories"  section you can find "The Sound Princess."  It mentions that "many Japanese women are embarrassed at the thought of being heard by others during urination. . ." 

See article here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toilets_in_japan

When I first read that part of the article, my first reaction was surprise that people would be embarrassed to be heard urinating.  Really, urinating?  Well, I'm a guy, and. . .well, I don't know if gender should have anything to do with this, but I don't mind people hearing it.  I can even see being proud of it, as Tom Hanks' character Jimmy Dugan might have felt in this classic scene (if he'd been sober enough to think about it):



To be embarrassed to have someone hear one's peeing is a little messed up, was my first reaction, but I'm trying now to step back and not judge it.
 
My second reaction was that I was easily able to imagine a lot of women in Japan being embarrassed in such situations.  Many of my Japanese friends say that Japanese people are generally shy, but I don't really agree with them.  I've come to draw a distinction between shy and embarrassed, or somewhat easily embarrassed.  I see shyness as a personality trait that can exist regardless of how others see us.  When we feel shy, we feel bashful or reluctant regardless of how others react to us, or how we think they're reacting to us. . . Bashful people can meet fans or foes and still feel bashful.  Someone who is easily embarrassed, on the other hand, might possibly feel confident and grand when others hold him/her in high regard; but this person might shrink in the face of looking awkward, incompetent, uncool, or otherwise bad.  I don't know that being either shy or easily embarrassed is better or worse than the other, but I do think they're different conditions.

My third reaction was, "Why am I not embarrassed by having others hearing me urinate, but the other sounds. . .?"  Generally, I'd rather not emit gas or have others hear me doing Number 2; and yet, a Number 1 audible is no problem for me.  How arbitrary is that?  I really don't know. . .I really don't.

P.S. Otohime is also the name of a goddess in Japanese mythology, and of a character in the manga / anime series One Piece, which I love: