Japan’s Contribution to Mankind is Toilet: Abe

choi

Eleanor Warnock, Japan Pinpoints Toilet Technology as a Way to Improve Quality of Life for Women. Japan Real Time,  blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2015/08/29/japan-pinpoints-toilet-technology-as-a-way-to-improve-quality-of-life-for-women/

Note:
(a) "Mr [Shinzo] Abe admitted being surprised when his minister in charge of women’s empowerment, Haruko Arimura, suggested toilets be a priority for the government. “I didn’t think that way. It’s important to have women in policy-making positions precisely because they have that point of view.”

Haruko ARIMURA 有村 治子 (1970- ; 自民党; a senator 参議院議員 AND, among other cabinet positions, 内阁府特命担当大臣（男女共同参与))
(i) Thee en.wikipedia.org says she earned PhD. However, both ja.wikipedia.org and Japan's cabinet website (the latter: " 1999年 青山学院大学研究生院博士课程，研究国际经营学") says she entered the PhD program but does not say she graduated.
(ii) Aoyama Gakuin University 青山学院大学 (1874- ; founded by missionaries; private; Christian; based in Tokyo)  en.wikipedia.org

The ja.wikipedia.org indicates that in 1883 the school (specifically its predecessor, not a university yet) moved from one part )the founding site) of Tokyo to another (the current site). The second site then was near 青山氏の邸宅, hence the school name.
(iii) Regarding 参議院議員 (比例代表, 全国选区) .  The parliament in Taiwan models after Japan's since 1990s. In both, a voter casts two votes in a parliamentary election: one vote for a candidate within her parliamentary district and the other to a political party (比例代表, 全国选区). For a political party to gain seats in the second category, the party has to muster enough votes to pass a threshold (commonly 5%) whose purpose is to eliminate fringe parties.
(iv) 内阁府特命担当大臣（男女共同参与) -- a title I obtain from cabinet website, whereas ja.wikipedia.org uses 男女共同参画 -- 英語: Minister of State for Gender Equality.
* 担当大臣  MInister of State
* 特命担当大臣  Minister of State for Special Missions


(b) “Big bathroom fixture makers in Japan such as Lixil Corp. and Toto Ltd. have been pushing for decades to export the nation’s high-tech toilets—heated, bidet-equipped commodes—to countries such as the US, but they are also creating more basic models for developing countries.  For example, Lixil completed a waterless toilet last year for children who live in a slum in Nairobi, Kenya, with support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency 国際協力機構. JICA administers Japan’s official development assistance.”
(i) LIXIL Corp 株式会社LIXIL: "「LIXIL」とは、「住」（LIVING）と「生活」（LIFE）から作られた造語である。" ja.wikipedia.org

The company was formed in 2010, whose name is a combination of two LI’s (the second spelled backward).
(ii) TŌTŌ Ltd   TŌTŌ株式会社 (1917- ; based in 福岡県北九州市; name shorten from Tōyō Tōki 東洋陶器)
(iii) Japan International Cooperation Agency  独立行政法人 国際協力機構

(c) photo caption: "A NEOREST 750H Actilight Bowl of a high-tech toilet from Toto."

Actilight. TOTO, undated,
http://gb.toto.com/technology/te ... ogy/show/Actilight/

The above Web page repeatedly talks about "dirt," which I at last realize means shit.