Page 102 - Basic Japanese
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2.17. Words for ‘toilet’
As in English, there are various oblique ways of talking
about toilets in Japanese. Probably the most current polite
terms are otearai ‘lavatory’ and (o)toire ‘toilet,’ but women
may say keshōshitsu ‘powder room.’ So when asking where it
is, you may say O-tearai wa doko ni arimasu ka.
2.18. nani/nan ‘what’
The word meaning ‘what’ is usually expressed by nan before
a word beginning with t, d, or n, and nani before other words.
However, nan- ‘how many’ never has the shape nani-.
Nan desu ka.
