A journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step, as the saying goes. And so it came to pass that a number of planners, researchers and designers in a self-styled group called Toiletopia embarked on a campaign to upgrade the nation's cans when they founded the Japan Toilet Association on May 15, 1985.

One of the fledgling association's first moves was to have Nov. 10 declared Japan's semiofficial "Toilet Day." Why Nov. 10? Because in Japanese, the numbers 11 and 10 can be read as ii toire, meaning "nice toilet."

Though it initially encountered some skepticism, before long the openness of the JTA's campaign struck a responsive chord with the public.