The Tokyo Toilet Project

It is undisputed that Japan is a world leader as far as toilets are concerned. That does not only apply to the stellar development of toilet technology but to the high sanitary standards of public toilets as well: they are usually clean, odourless and well-stocked on toilet paper. The Nippon Foundation is taking things one big step forward by sponsoring 17 public toilets in Shibuya designed by renowned Japanese artists.


Below a list of all 'art toilets', their locations and creators:

笹塚緑道公衆トイレ／小林純子（こばやし・じゅんこ）
幡ヶ谷公衆トイレ／マイルス・ペニントン（東京大学DLXデザインラボ）
西原一丁目公園トイレ／坂倉竹之助
西参道公衆トイレ／藤本壮介（ふじもと・そうすけ）
代々木八幡公衆トイレ／伊東豊雄（いとう・とよお）
はるのおがわコミュニティパークトイレ／坂茂（ばん・しげる）
代々木深町小公園トイレ／坂茂
裏参道公衆トイレ／マーク・ニューソン
神宮前公衆トイレ／NIGO（ニゴー）
神宮通公園トイレ／安藤忠雄
鍋島松濤公園トイレ／隈研吾
並木橋公衆トイレ／佐藤（さとう）カズー
東三丁目公衆トイレ／田村奈穂（たむら・なお）
恵比寿公園トイレ／片山正通
恵比寿駅西口公衆トイレ／佐藤可士和（さとう・かしわ）
恵比寿東公園トイレ／槇文彦（まき・ふみひこ）
広尾東公園トイレ／後智仁（うしろ・ともひと）

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Time for a toilet stamp rally?

One remarkable piece of toilet art has been created by Shigeru Saka: transparent glass cubes that turn opaque and blur once the doors are locked. Stunning!


Yoyogi Fukamachi Small Park Toilet (click to enlarge)


Harunogawa Community Park Toilet (click to enlarge)

The video below illustrates the opacity feature of 'smart glass'.

Wonder what happens if there happens to be a power failure. Hopefully the default state is opaque.

At the end of June, the latest addition to the Tokyo Toilet Project, this time created by the famous architect Kengo Kuma, was inaugurated at Nabeshima Shoto Park (渋谷区立鍋島松濤公園) in Shibuya. At first glance perhaps not as spectacular as the transparent toilets above, it looks cosy and more ecological.

Meanwhile in America.....

Renowned German director Wim Wenders will make a film about high-end public toilets in Japan.

"For me, they turned from toilets into restrooms. That's a very nice word in English, the restroom. When I saw these places the next couple of days, I realized they were restrooms in the true sense of the word," Wenders told reporters in Tokyo's fashionable Shibuya district, where the dozen public restrooms are located. The facilities were designed by leading architects including Kengo Kuma and Tadao Ando, with the idea that a pleasant public restroom could counter the common expectation it had to be filthy, filled with graffiti or associated with crime. Wenders, the Oscar-winning director of "Wings of Desire" and "Buena Vista Social Club," said when he saw the Shibuya bathrooms, he was moved. "This is a truly precious place," Wenders said.

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