I've never personally used a Japanese toilet, so I'm genuinely interested: if you say your feet are to either side of the bowl, where do your lowered pants end up? Won't they be in the way?
I've been using them for a year in Japan, so there: You don't sit squarely on them (I don't know where you got the notion that your feet are on either side of the bowl), your feet are in front of the bowl, with the lowered pants in between. The pants are obviously below the opening of the bowl, so they don't get in the way.
