Shuttle Bus Tour Launched to Explore Tokyo’s Showcase Toilets Designed by World-Class Architects

Visitors to Japan’s capital can now enjoy tours of the 17 designer public toilets made famous around the world by the Wim Wenders film “Perfect Days”.

The Shibuya City Tourism Association and NearMe Inc., a ride service provider that uses artificial intelligence to optimize routes, launched “The Tokyo Toilet Shuttle Tour” on March 2.

Under the Tokyo Toilet Project (TTP) launched by The Nippon Foundation and the Shibuya city government, these toilets were designed by 16 internationally-renowned architects, including four laureates of the Pritzker Architect Prize, which is often referred to as “the Nobel Prize of architecture,” such as Mr. Tadao Ando and Mr. Shigeru Ban as well as Mr. Kengo Kuma, who designed the new National Stadium in Tokyo, the main venue for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Completed between 2018 and 2023, the toilets were designed to change people's perceptions of public restrooms as smelly, dark, dirty, and dangerous and make them accessible to everyone regardless of gender, age, or disability.

The TTP forms the backdrop for the Oscar-nominated film “Perfect Days” by legendary German filmmaker Mr. Wim Wenders that follows the daily life of an everyman who keeps the public restrooms of Tokyo pristine－played by Mr. Koji Yakusho. In May last year, Mr. Yakusho won the best actor award at the 76th Cannes Film Festival for his role in the movie.

Noting that the film has been released worldwide, the tourism association says: "We would like to promote this as a new tourism resource for inbound and domestic travelers."

The tours are available twice a week－on Thursdays and Saturdays－at a cost of 4,950 yen (about $33).

There are two tour routes: the East Course, which visits eight toilets in the eastern part of Shibuya Ward, including the Jingumae public restroom designed by Mr. Tadao Ando, and the West Course, which visits nine locations in the western part of the ward, including the Yoyogi-Hachiman public restroom by Mr. Shigeru Ban.

I sincerely hope that many people visiting Tokyo, both from within Japan and from around the world, will visit these public toilets and enjoy the highly original designs by world-class architects.

I trust also that they will inspire people to leave the toilets as they would hope to find them, thus extending the spirit of Japan’s omotenashi hospitality to the arena of public conveniences.

Reservations can be made at the NearMe website.