Japanese commode colossus Toto has once again shaken the foundations of the world’s lavatory industry with its claims Wednesday, to have developed the world’s first “Internet Toilet.”

The Internet Toilet, or “It”, as it will be known to American consumers, will be first demonstrated for Americans at the World Toilet Expo (WTE), scheduled to be held at Seattle’s International Airport, August 17-25th.

But representatives of interested American companies were not content to sit at home and wait. Many flew to Japan for an industry-only toilet exhibition held just outside Tokyo, June 10th. The exhibition, titled “Go Go Boxes For Go Go Days!” was staged at the cavernous Tokyo Big Site. While ostensibly a forum for sharing ideas on toilet design, Japan’s toiletry industry is monopolized by Toto, an intensely popular and trusted company in the island nation.

“Ladies and gentlemen – I give you the future, in Internal technology,” boomed Masahiro Aoi, Senior Vice-President of Toto, to an obviously thrilled international audience. “I give you – Bobbi!” “Bobbi,” is the short form of the Japanese version of the Internet Toilet. The full name of the unit on sale in Japan is “Bobbi Go Go Box, I.T.”

Whether you call it “It,” as in the US, or “Bobbi,” as in Japan, this toilet has some awesome bells and whistles. Users log on to the Internet simply by lifting the toilet’s platinum lid. Designed more like a fisherman’s captain’s chair, many industry execs stated that using it was the first time they had really felt “personally connected” to the Internet.

“I think it’s going to sell buckets in the US,” wowed a visibly impressed visiting BB FunCorp executive, from Boulder, Colorado. “I just wish the American version had all of the the Japanese features. Like when you close the lid, and it says ‘Good jobby, Bobbi’ – I love that!”