In a unique collaboration, 17 specially designed public toilets have been created by a team of 16 global architects, creative directors, university professors and designers from the fields of product, fashion and interiors in partnership with Shibuya City in Toyko, Japan.

Public toilets in Tokyo are often seen as being dirty, dark, unsafe for women, inaccessible for those with disabilities and children, and hard to locate. These conditions can have the effect of creating a society that does not regard or respect public toilets as a common good.

To find a solution, THE TOKYO TOILET project was conceived and funded by Koji Yanai, senior executive officer and board director of Fast Retailing Group, known for the UNIQLO clothing brand. Yanai was inspired by the 2016 ParalympicsGB video for the Rio Paralympics, as well as the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic bid which was driven by the Japanese concept of Omotenashi.

Omotenashi is a spirit of hospitality which Yanai defines as the unnoticeable and free-of-charge services which should be unrecognisable to the guest but tailor-made so they feel included and appreciated.

Through the power of design, THE TOKYO TOILET project demonstrates how Omotenashi can be incorporated to reimagine the concept of public toilets and what a new creative society can achieve in this space which is accessible and accepting of all diversity regardless of gender, age, or disability.

Among the 17 individually named toilets, features such as full voice activation, transparent to frosted walls, a walk-in-the-woods experience, an artistic light installation, and community meeting places have been designed to ensure each toilet is unique.

Opened to the public in March 2023, all 17 toilet locations are accessible to those with disabilities as well as offering varying facilities such as baby care and general care rooms; ostomy management; dedicated children's toilets; and priority for the elderly, expectant mothers, and those with children.

The ethos of THE TOKYO TOILET project extends to cleaning, maintenance, and management. Driven by the belief to provide a comfortable user experience and maintain cleanliness, toilets are cleaned up to three times a day, to nurture the users' minds to consciously expect clean public toilets.

Inspections are conducted every month by a third-party toilet consultant and an annual inspection measures aspects such as ammonia, temperature, humidity, and illumination levels.

This project was managed overall by The Nippon Foundation with the full cooperation of Shibuya City from 2018, and managed by Shibuya City onward from 2024. This was conducted with assistance from DAIWA HOUSE INDUSTRY CO., LTD. for the construction and design of the toilets, and TOTO Co., Ltd. for advising on toilet equipment and layout.