Lost in a Toilet Museum

Korea is full of eccentric types, and a visit to the Haewoojae pretty much is the one to top them all. I shit (brace yourselves, there will be more potty puns ahead) you not, this is a home, built in the form of a toilet bowl by one rather eccentric fellow, Sim Jaedeok. Before I get into Haewoojae, its important to really talk about the character of the late Mr. Sim, and why he would build his home in the shape of a toilet.

Sim Jaedeok began life, born in a toilet, hence his childhood nickname Gaeddong-yi. Now when we are stuck with our childhood nicknames we really have only two choices, suffer and plot revenge or we can own that shit. Mr Sim chose the later. His attachment to toilets was with him his whole life, so much so that he became concerned with the sanitation of the toilets not only in his hometown of Suwon, but of Korea and the world. Thus began his life’s work. He started the toilet culture movement to build awareness of the dire toilet situations in many undeveloped countries after his turn of modernizing the toilets of Suwon. Now, this is where the tie in to previous mentions of toilets made in other posts come in.

Mr Sim ran a successful campaign to become the mayor of Suwon, and one of his accomplishments was to build a series of some 24 very clean, modern toilets throughout the city of Suwon. These were essential as Suwon was one of the cities which would be hosting the 2002 FIFA world cup games and nobody wanted the image of Korea to be tarnished by the state of its loos. So Mr. Sim pushed to have these modern toilet facilities set up for the citizens of Suwon and tourist to enjoy. Each one has a theme, and has now become part of the toilet culture tour.

For the uninitiated, many of the older buildings in Korea are squat toilets, which are easy to use if you have always used them. Unfortunately I have always had to use them when I was hit with Montezuma’s revenge. Every.Single.Time! Also not, when traveling in Korea ALWAYS carry toilet tissue, and if you have a dainty bottom, wet wipes for a gentlemanly clean feel.

After Mr. Sim was voted out of office, he set his sights on the world. No, he literally set his sights on the world’s toilet culture with the foundation of the World Toilet Association in 2006. Regrettably for Mr. Sim, he was also soon diagnosed with prostate cancer, and set to task one more item in his toilet challenge, to build his home in the shape of a massive toilet sculpture and dedicate it to the global toilet cause he championed. While he only lived in his giant toilet for just under two years, he left the home with instructions to dedicate it to the city of Suwon as a museum for Korean toilet culture.

So, now I hope the following dedication to Haewoojae is now looked on as the accumulation of one man’s life’s work and not simply a tourist attraction to gawk at and take silly poo pictures. And yes, there is lots of poo in the toilet museum.

Haewoojae is the worlds largest toilet sculpture, and home/museum as of the date of this writing. To be clear it isn’t like it had much competition but when you go big, why not try to eliminate the possibility of any contenders. The two floors that are accessible are converted into the museum, with the opening to the roof deck closed off. This opening would be where the water would sit in a bowl if you are trying to draw an image in your mind. A toilet room and office is the central focus point of the structure and various exhibits about the work of Mr. Sim Jaedeok and toilets around the world. There are also games one can play to test your knowledge of poop.

Outside of the museum is a toilet culture park, featuring pooping statues, and various examples of toilets from around Korea and the world. There is also a functional toilet one can use if the need were to arise. Haewoojae roughly means ‘House to relieve ones concerns,’ borrowed from a term used for toilets at Buddhist temples. There is much to learn about poo from this place. How poop was used in the fields, to poop collection in the palaces, communal village outhouses, and much more entertainment as well. As an added bonus Haewoojae is kid friendly, too. With my sophomoric humor I was easily entertained.