Flushed with pride, public toilets a tourist draw in Tokyo

TOTO

05/04/2024 10:15

By Tom Bateman
       TOKYO, April 5 (Reuters) - Along with taking in temples
and cherry blossoms, Tokyo visitors can now join a curated
pilgrimage of the city's more modern wonders: its public
toilets.  
    Penelope Panczuk was inspired to hop on the Tokyo Toilet
Shuttle for a two-hour tour of artistically enhanced public
conveniences by "Perfect Days", the Oscar-nominated film about a
toilet cleaner in the city's Shibuya district.
    "In the U.S. or in France where I originally come from, you
just don't go," Panczuk said of using public facilities. 
    "Here in Tokyo you're really happy to go because they're
extremely clean, they're very safe and each one is so different
it feels like it's a new discovery each time," she added.
The shuttle began in March with visitors flocking to Japan at a
record pace, drawn by a slide in the yen that's made it
affordable for many superfans of Japanese culture to take in its
sights and quirks for the first time.
Among Japan's most-revered technological exports in recent years
are its toilets -- manufactured by TOTO  5332.T , LIXIL  5938.T 
and others -- that feature cleansing sprays, heated seats,
music, and other functions.
The animated comedy "South Park" recently devoted an entire
episode to them, and hip-hop impresario DJ Khaled gushed on
Instagram about a gift of four TOTO bowls from the rapper Drake.
The Tokyo Toilet Project, started in 2020 by The Nippon
Foundation non-profit, recruited creators including Pritzker
Prize-winning architect Tadao Ando to improve accessibility and
artistry in 17 public toilets in the Shibuya district.
    The project wasn't intended as a tourist attraction, but
Shibuya's government saw a chance to broaden the area's visitor
appeal away from its famously chaotic Scramble crossing. 
    "The highlight for visitors is that they can be driven
around the less-visited parts of Shibuya and enjoy the entire
district while checking out the toilets," said Yumiko Nishi, a
tourist association manager for the ward.
    Shuttle passengers pay 4,950 yen ($32.76) to visit nine
distinct toilets, including one with clear walls that turn
opaque when users enter and another operated by voice commands.
    Takao Karino, visiting from Japan's western metropolis of
Osaka, marvelled at the wide, vaulted entranceway of a facility
created by British designer Miles Pennington.   
    "There's nothing else like this in Japan," Karino, 69, said
about the tour. "It's unusual, it's unique, it's honestly
brilliant." 
     
    ($1 = 151.1200 yen)

(Reporting by Tom Batemen; Writing by Rocky Swift; Editing by
Philippa Fletcher)
((mailto:rocky.swift@thomsonreuters.com;))