Are Tokyo’s public toilets the new tourist attractions? Here are 13 unique ones worth visiting

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A few months ago, I caught the picture Perfect Days. The Oscar-nominated film by famous producer Wim Wenders followed a Chinese bathroom custodian who performs his career with fervor and passion and featured some cool-looking facilities in Tokyo.

Now, I normally do n’t give public toilets a second thought – I walk in, take care of business, wash up and walk out. However, the toilets in the movie, which I later learned were a part of the Tokyo Toilet Project ( TTP), piqued my interest enough that I decided to check them out during my trip to Japan earlier this month.

THE Korea Bathroom Task

Launched in 2020 by The Nippon Foundation non- income company, the TTP’s aim was to encourage the use of public toilets and remove the stigma of them being dark, illegal and unsanitary, specifically for children and women.

17 people toilet located around the Shibuya district&nbsp were redesign and made more accessible by sixteen world-renowned designers, architects, and artists, including Tadao Ando, Kengo Kuma, Shigeru Ban, and Nigo. This explains why many of them appear to be art installations.

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Healing through hiking: A 9-day trek along northern Japan’s lesser-known Michinoku Coastal Trail

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That night, we visited the Tsunami Memorial Park Nakanohama, residence to a previous camp with the battered remnants of a house and restroom. Jodogahama Beach, a beachfront with white sandstone cliffs and peaceful bays, was where we went on our hike. The return was well worth it because we enjoyed ourselves in the airconditioned bedrooms and surroundings of Jodogahama Park Hotel.

The scenery changed to picturesque vents and serene bays as we left the remote, rugged coastline of north Tohoku for Miyako area.

One of the worst- hit towns, large pieces of Miyako have been previously rebuilt. Here, we walked our last stretch: The Hama Kaido, an old path from the Edo period that was previously the main thoroughfare between the coast and Sendai, Tohoku’s main city. When roads turned out to be impassable, it was once used to transport items like salt, iron, and seafood. It later turned into a makeshift path by tsunami rescuers.

Our final day included a visit to Funio Sakamoto, one of the few kesen-daiku carpenters renowned for creating Japan’s intricate temples and shrines, including the magnificent Meiji Jingu shrine in Tokyo. As we passed through another stretch of the Hama-kaido, where torii shrine gates lined a picturesque narrow gorge with waterfalls, we admired his craftsmanship.

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