First, Japan gave the world hi-tech lavatories. Now, a crystal lavatory – studded with more than 72,000 pieces of Swarovski cut crystal and valued at over $100,000 (£64,000).

Lavatory manufacturer INAX teamed up with the Austrian jeweller to create the ornate fixture, which is on display in a showroom in the posh Ginza shopping district, an effort to draw more customers in a year fraught with economic gloom and natural disaster.

In a nod to traditional belief, the sparkling lavatory was created to please the "god of lavatories," said Kazuo Sumimiya, director of the showroom for the Lixil interior fixture company of which INAX is a part.

"In Japan, we believe a deity exists in the lavatory. That's why keeping lavatories clean and taking good care of it have been a Japanese custom since long ago," he added.

"If we were to sell it, it would probably be worth around 10 million yen ($130,000)."

Visitors admired the dazzling fixture, with one woman saying she'd like to invite her friends and hold a party around it.

But others said it might be a bit too exalted to be useful.

"It'd be hard. I don't think I'd feel comfortable enough to use it even if I had this at home," said 22-year-old Chikako Kawanami, an art museum receptionist.

The lavatory will be on display until the end of December.

(Read by Emily Cheng. Emily Cheng is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

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(Agencies)