Tokyo Toilet Tour
A tour of toilets may sound like a crazy activity to do, but the some of the top names in the Japanese architecture joined a project to redesign public restrooms in Tokyo's Shibuya district. If you are fans of Japanese contemporary architecture, then this will allow for a quick sample of the different styles of each of the architects.
The names include Tadao Ando, Fumihiko Maki, Kengo Kuma and Sou Fujimoto. Industrial designer Marc Newson also contributed to this project. The first of the new toilets began appearing in 2020, and with the completion of Fujimoto's new toilet near the Park Hyatt Hotel, all 17 that was planned is now complete.
Despite all being within the borders of Shibuya-ku, the toilets are fairly scattered throughout the ward and requires some planning to visit.
The project has gotten some renewed interest after they were featured in the film "Perfect Days" by the German director Wim Wenders. In the film, Koji Yakusho plays the role of Hirayama, whose job is to clean the toilets. Yakusho won the Best Actor award in the Cannes Film Festival for his performance. The scenes were shot in October 2022 so some of the later works of the project did not get featured in the movie.
In addition to looking at the toilets and the locations featured in the film, the tour will go through some of the other highlights of the city, such as Shibuya, the Yoyogi Park and Meiji Shrine. It will be a tour of Tokyo from a unique perspective.
HOW TO BOOK
This tour is available from my booking page on TripAdvisor.
They are conducted as a private tour (There won't be other groups joining you on the tour). A maximum of 4 people can participate. It will be a combination of walking and public transport.
---FYI---
If you prefer a joint tour that comes with transportation, you might want to look into the below program.
"THE TOKYO TOILET SHUTTLE TOUR"
https://campaign.nearme.jp/thetokyotoilet/en
I have no affiliation with this tour organizer so I won't be able to answer any queries about their offer.
To learn more about the toilet project itself, visit the Tokyo Toilet Project website
Note on Shigeru Ban's "Transparent Toilets"
Originally, the cubicles were transparent when there is no one inside. It uses light control film and when electricity is running the glass is transparent. The glass would become opaque when the door is locked.
A few months after its completion, unexpected problems with this system occurred during colder weather when the glass would take an extra few seconds before fogging. After complaints on social media, the city decided to keep the cubicles permanently opaque from mid October to mid May.
Update May 16th, 2025
Confirmed on-site that the transparent feature has been brought back.
Other scenes from the "Perfect Days" movie...
The other scenes from ”Perfect Days” were shot in Asakusa and near the Tokyo Skytree on Tokyo's east side.
The business name in the movie all actually exist such as Fukuchan (the basement izakaya showing the baseball game on TV, located adjacent to Ginza Line Asakusa Station), Chikyudo (the used book store, 1-39-9 Asakusa, Taito-ku), Novu (the izakaya where the owner sings karaoke at request of the customer, 4-16-4 Asakusa, Taito-ku) and Denkiyu (public bath, 3-10-10 Kyojima, Sumida-ku).
Hirayama's apartment is also an existing building, in use as a residence like in the movie. It is near the Koto Tenso Shrine.
