Tokyo toilet tours flush out 17 unique public restrooms in Shibuya Ward

The “Jingumae public restroom” was designed to look like an old-fashioned house in the Harajuku area of Shibuya Ward, Tokyo. (Mainichi/Yusuke Kato)

TOKYO — Join the Japanese capital’s newest attraction: Tours of 17 unique public restrooms in Shibuya Ward, which began on March 1.

The Shibuya City Tourism Association and Tokyo’s Chuo Ward-based NearMe Inc., a ride service provider using artificial intelligence, have launched the “Tokyo Toilet Shuttle Tour.” The restrooms were designed by prominent Japanese architects and designers as part of a renovation project promoted by organizations including the Nippon Foundation. The tourism association says, “We would like to promote this as a new tourism resource for inbound and domestic travelers.”

The restrooms on the tours were renovated between 2018 and 2023 by the Nippon Foundation and the Shibuya Ward Office to dispel the image of public toilets as dirty, smelly and dark. Sixteen internationally renowned architects and designers, including Tadao Ando and Kengo Kuma, participated in the design of the facilities. They are all filled with the creators’ ideas, such as the “Jingumae public restroom” designed to resemble an old-fashioned home in the Harajuku district, and the “Yoyogi-Hachiman public restroom” resembling mushrooms growing in harmony with the nearby forest.

Last May, Koji Yakusho won best actor at the 76th Cannes Film Festival for his role in “Perfect Days,” a movie about the daily life of a public restroom cleaner in Shibuya Ward. The tours have been launched just in time to leverage growing public interest in the toilets both at home and abroad generated by the film.

There are two tour routes: the East Course, which visits eight locations in the eastern part of the ward, including the Jingumae public restroom, and the West Course, which visits nine locations in the western part of the ward, including the Yoyogi-Hachiman public restroom. The tour fee for is both 4,950 yen (about $33). Tour applications can be made at the NearMe website.

(Japanese original by Yusuke Kato, Tokyo City News Department)