At the risk of sounding naive, help me figure out what I'm missing then. I had the opportunity to use a built in style bidet when I visited Japan, and after a few days of trying, I could not figure out how to clean myself with it. There was always some residue left that had to be toilet papered off.

Are you expected to use your hand to clean like you would in the shower? Because that's never been made clear to me and what I've read online says to just let the water splash on you then dry it off with a towel, which doesn't seem sanitary at all to me.

Edit: Reading through the thread has been helpful. I've always had bidets pitched to me as a toilet paper replacement, but the comments here indicate it's something to be used after wiping, not in lieu of.