Toilets you've never seen before - modern public toilets in Tokyo parks

Toilets in Japan are admired by residents and tourists visiting Shibuya in Tokyo. In a revolutionary project organized by the Nippon Foundation called "Tokyo Toilet", 16 top creators participated, including world-renowned architects Tadao Ando and Kengo Kuma.

The Nippon Foundation project "Tokyo Toilet"

The Nippon Foundation is a foundation whose main mission is to innovate society. On their website, they write "We believe that actions resulting from awareness of the problems we face are the starting point for changing society as a whole." By creating the TOKYO TOILET project, the foundation decided to create 17 toilets in Shibuya in Tokyo that would encourage all park users to use public toilets.

Public toilets in Shibuya in Tokyo did not encourage use, as bathrooms were associated with unpleasant odors and the appearance of the toilets themselves did not encourage visits.

The Nippon Foundation, in collaboration with the Shibuya City government, decided to create modern public toilets. 16 designers participated in the project, creating 17 modern toilets.

Using advanced designs, among others, transparent toilets were created in Japan, whose fame reached all the way to Poland. A toilet illuminated at night, designed by one of the architects Shigeru Ban, was created in Mini Park Yoyogi Fukamachi, and another in Haru-no-Ogawa City Park.

Toilets created by Shigeru Ban have become an attraction for tourists, transparent toilets constructed with glass walls allow for checking the condition of the toilet before using it. Upon entering, the toilet from the open transparent, closes and changes the walls to opaque.

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Modern toilets in Japan

The public toilets in Japan required a lot of involvement from architects, unusual toilet constructions and interesting designs gave the toilets a unique character. With users in mind, some toilets have amenities such as:

- a room for taking care of a child
- priority for expectant mothers
- priority for people with small children
- toilets for children
- baby changing table
- child seat
- stoma device

17 toilets created by 16 architects

Created by 16 outstanding architects, the public toilets in Shibuya parks are impressive with their unique appearance. The photos show 12 open toilets.

Source: Photo by Satoshi Nagare

Five more public toilets are yet to be opened, with a preliminary opening planned for 2022. They include:

- Sasazuka Greenway - Junko Kobayashi / Gondola Architects
- Hatagaya - UTokyo DLX Design Lab Miles Pennington
- Nishisando - Sou Fujimoto
- Urasando - Marc Newson
- Hiroo East Park - Tomohito Ushiro

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High standard of public toilets

Properly adapted public toilets have become decorations of parks and attractions for visitors. Japanese toilets encourage visiting and using them, as they are characterized by high standards and cleanliness.

The toilets are cleaned three times a day, with additional monthly cleaning and special cleaning once a year, ensuring a high standard is maintained. Monthly maintenance meetings help monitor the use of the toilets.

Author: Katarzyna Szumska

Source: https://www.nippon-foundation.or.jp/en
https://tokyotoilet.jp/en/