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- 1. Higashi Sanchome by Nao Tamura
- 2. Yoyogi Fukamachi Mini Park by Shigeru Ban
- 3. Haru-no-Ogawa Community Park, Shigeru Ban
- 4. Squid Toilet Ebisu East Park by Fumihiko Maki
- 5. Amayadori Jingu Dori Park by Tadao Ando
- 6. Modern Kawaya at Ebisu Park by Wonderwall
- 7. Andon Nishihara Itchome Park by Takenosku Sakakura
- 8. A Walk in the Woods by Kengo Kuma
- 9. Toilet at Ebusi Station by Kashiwa Studio
- 10. Toilet, Jingumane, by Nigo
- 11. Toilet, Yoyogi-Hachiman by Toyo Ito
- 12. Hi Toilet, Nanago Dori Park, by Kazoo Sato
- 13. Toilet by Marc Newson at Urasando
- 14. Hiroo East Park Toilet by Tomohito Ushiro
- 15. Hatagaya by Miles Pennington and DLX Design Lab
- 16. Sasazuka Greenway by Junko Kobayashi
- 17. Sou Fujimoto?s toilet at Nishisando
The Tokyo Toilet project, launched in 2018 by The Nippon Foundation, aims to challenge stereotypes of unclean, dark, and dangerous public restrooms in Japan. Since 2020, 17 restrooms have been redesigned, with all but four operational. The project promotes diversity, featuring baby care areas, medical ostomy points, and LGBTQ+ advocacy, portraying Japan’s pride in cleanliness and safety.
1. Higashi Sanchome by Nao Tamura
Origata, the traditional gift-wrapping style of Japan, inspires the red public toilet on a triangular plot in Higashi Sanchome. The toilet provides wheelchair accessible bathroom for both males and females separately. The red color here signifies the state of urgency to make it stand out.
2. Yoyogi Fukamachi Mini Park by Shigeru Ban
Constructed within the city’s Yoyogi Fukamachi Mini Park and the Haru-no-Ogawa Community Park, the restroom has tinted glass walls that make it easy for onlookers to determine whether or not they are in use. And once locked the walls automatically turn opaque.
3. Haru-no-Ogawa Community Park, Shigeru Ban
Green and blue tints accentuate the surrounding trees at the Haru-no-Ogawa Community Park.
Each facility has three distinct cubicles with mirrored walls separating the male, and female, and accessible restrooms.
4. Squid Toilet Ebisu East Park by Fumihiko Maki
Squid Toilet, a pavilion built by Fumihiko The Maki for the Tokyo Toilet project, replaced a public lavatory in Tokyo’s “Octopus Park.”
The four little structures that house the toilet’s functions are composed of frosted glass and white walls. The blocks are topped with a thin, curving white roof and around a small courtyard with a little tree.
5. Amayadori Jingu Dori Park by Tadao Ando
In Dori Park, Ando created a circular public restroom for the Tokyo Toilet Project. The circular restroom block is encircled by a wall composed of vertical metal louvres and has external sinks, a male, and female, and an accessible cubicle. This wall lets air flow through while providing seclusion. An inclined roof that overhangs the toilet to give shelter covers the entire construction.
6. Modern Kawaya at Ebisu Park by Wonderwall
Situated in the Shibuya neighbourhood of the capital’s Ebisu Park, the restroom block is designed to blend in with the park’s “primitive and simple” objects rather than drawing attention to itself as a structure. Wonderwall refers to it as the “Modern Kawaya,” alluding to the archaic kawaya huts that were utilized as lavatories during the early J?mon period, which spans between 10,000 and 6,000 BCE.
15 concrete walls are arranged here in a maze-like pattern, with spaces between them that covertly lead to three distinct spaces.
7. Andon Nishihara Itchome Park by Takenosku Sakakura
Japanese architect Takenosuke Sakakura has designed three unisex toilets, named Andon, that glow like lanterns at night in Tokyo’s Nishihara Itchome Park. The toilet, part of the Tokyo Toilet project, is the latest public restroom in downtown Shibuya. The toilets, each wrapped in green-tinted frosted glass, are accessible through a green door with a small porch. The glass is imprinted with a pattern of trees, visible both near and inside the cubicles. Sakakura hopes the bright toilet will encourage more people to use the park and its facilities. The project is the seventh installment of the Nippon Foundation’s Tokyo Toilet project.
8. A Walk in the Woods by Kengo Kuma
Japanese architect Kengo Kuma has unveiled a cedar-clad toilet in Tokyo, A Walk in the Woods, designed to dispel the conventional image of public toilets. The toilet was built to replace an existing brick toilet block within Nabeshima Shoto Park, integrating with the park’s lush greenery. The toilet is divided into five huts connected by a stepped walkway, each containing an individual toilet.
9. Toilet at Ebusi Station by Kashiwa Studio
Kashiwa headed the pictograms used in every restroom created for this project, as well as the spatial design of the restroom, as part of “THE TOKYO TOILET” Project. The purpose of this restroom was to be a distinguishing feature outside the exit that would add brightness and freshness to the surrounding area without being in the way of regular passengers.
10. Toilet, Jingumane, by Nigo
Nigo, a Japanese fashion designer, created a public restroom shaped like a tiny house. The restroom is a striking feature among the surrounding high-rise structures, drawing inspiration from the Washington Heights Dependent Housing, a sprawling US-built housing complex situated near Yoyogi Park in 1946.
The restroom block, which has three chimney-style additions and white walls punctuated by blue-framed windows, is reminiscent of the now-mostly-demolished houses. The restroom has an inward-opening door that seems to be perpetually open, a rustic garden fence, and a white picket fence that encircles half of it. Depending on their age and generation, some people may find the restroom nostalgic while others may find it brand-new.
11. Toilet, Yoyogi-Hachiman by Toyo Ito
Toyo Ito, the Pritzker Prize-winning architect, contributed three toilets that resemble mushrooms to the city-wide project.
The building, which took the place of a previous restroom complex at the base of a set of stairs that leads to the Yoyogi Hachimangu shrine in the Shibuya area, is named for the mushrooms that grow in the surrounding forest. To ensure that every user felt safe, Ito divided the restrooms into three distinct areas.
12. Hi Toilet, Nanago Dori Park, by Kazoo Sato
Hi Toilet ? Satoshi Nagare, The Nippon Foundation
The goal of Japanese designer Kazoo Sato’s new Tokyo public restroom is to dispel the myth that these spaces are gloomy, filthy, smelly, and unsettling. A voice-activated facility called the Hi Toilet addresses surface contact hygiene issues that were accelerated by the COVID-19 outbreak.
13. Toilet by Marc Newson at Urasando
Marc designed the Urasando toilet, a welcoming amenity for locals and tourists, resembling vernacular Japanese architecture. The concrete structure features a pale blue-green interior with three zones, a multifunctional space, and a hardwearing, easy-to-clean interior.
14. Hiroo East Park Toilet by Tomohito Ushiro
The toilet designed by Japanese graphic artist Tomohito Ushiro has a huge light panel that rotates through 7.9 billion distinct light patterns, which represents the number of people on the planet at the time the project was conceived. The light panel is enclosed by a glazed rear wall of the toilet, which was designed to replace a red brick block. Ushiro intends for the toilet to serve as a piece of public art and raise awareness of the larger Tokyo Toilet project.
15. Hatagaya by Miles Pennington and DLX Design Lab
Tokyo’s public restroom, designed by Miles Pennington and DLX Design Lab, serves as a meeting spot, pop-up shop, movie, exhibition space, and information hub. Located in the Hatagaya neighbourhood, it features a covered space with wide white walls and a flexible seating system. Through this setup, Pennington aims to create a community centre.
16. Sasazuka Greenway by Junko Kobayashi
Junko Kobayashi built a public restroom in Tokyo that uses weathering steel cylinders. Beneath Sasazuka Station, the restroom has a fun and unique design that gives it a noticeable presence in the community. The restrooms also provide baby-changing areas and a disabled restroom with a big yellow disc on top.
17. Sou Fujimoto?s toilet at Nishisando
In Tokyo, Sou Fujimoto created a public restroom complex with a community hand-washing station and a huge sink-like shape. An outdoor walkway divides the restroom block. Recessed lights illuminate the white toilets.
Sources
- https://www.dezeen.com/2020/08/17/shigeru-ban-transparent-toyko-toilet-shibuya/
- https://www.nippon-foundation.or.jp/en/what/projects/thetokyotoilet
- https://www.dezeen.com/2024/03/08/tokyo-toilets-wim-wenders-perfect-days/
- https://www.dezeen.com/2020/08/18/fumihiko-maki-tokyo-toilet-octopus-park/
- https://www.dezeen.com/2020/08/18/fumihiko-maki-tokyo-toilet-octopus-park/
- https://www.dezeen.com/2024/03/08/tokyo-toilets-wim-wenders-perfect-days/