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This is the bathroom sink in the apartment. I was going to wash something in it, and without thinking, I pushed down the popup drain stopper to collect water. The photo shows water in the sink with the stopper closed.

Then I realized there was no lever or rod to pull up the stopper. I checked behind the faucet and found a hole. I concluded the levet was missing from there.

I tried to figure out how to open the stopper. I used a knife, but it lifted the stopper just enough for the water to drain slowly and that was it. I looked up on the internet to see if there was a solution. There was.

Suction cup!

What a genius.

I went to the store to get a suction holder, and sure enough, it pulled up the stopper beautifully.

When the super came to fix the pipe the other day, I asked Y san to tell
him about the missing lever. He gestured us to come into the bathroom. We did. He pushed the stopper down by his finger. I thought "No! You'll need the suction holder to open it!" Then he pushed the closed stopper again, and voila, it popped up open.

We all laughed. Neither Y san nor I had seen a stopper like that and we were sure it was broken.

While it is an ingenious design, I prefer the old style stopper with a chain. That way you can put a filter in the drain to prevent clogging.