Chinese shoppers have been shocked to learn that the luxury toilets they’ve been flocking to Japan for are actually made in China.
Boosted by a weaker Yen, the Chinese have been spending up big in Japan, notching up a total bill of 6 billion yuan in Japan over the Chinese New Year holiday last month, Quartz reports.
One of the visitors, a man from Hangzhou posted online his surprise that Panasonic toilet lids on sale in Osaka were made near his hometown.
In an interview with Sina News he said, “I can’t believe I came this far to buy something manufactured on my doorstep. Doesn’t that just make me a porter?”
According to the report a worker at the Chinese Panansonic manufacturing base said he and his co-workers found the news “inconceivable,” because the toilets were already available more cheaply in China. One model sells for 2980 yuan ($475) in China but about 59,000 yen ($492) in Japan.