Toto is Japan's leading toilet manufacturer

There have been three incidents of the electric bidet accessory in Toto's Z series catching fire.

"Fortunately nobody was using the toilets when the fire broke out and there were no injuries," a company spokesman said.

"The fire would have been just under your buttocks," she added.

Toto is a pioneer of high-tech toilets with built-in bidets, which are popular in Japan.

The Z series features a pulsating massage spray, a power dryer, a "tornado wash" flush, and a lid that opens and closes automatically.

It is not sold outside Japan.

The offending loos were all manufactured between May 1996 and December 2001.