The Tokyo Metropolitan Tourism Association and NearMe, an artificial intelligence (AI) ride-hailing service provider, have officially launched the "Tokyo Toilet Shuttle Tour" starting March 1 in the Shibuya area.
The tour will take visitors to restrooms designed by famous Japanese architects and designers, part of a renovation project promoted by organizations such as the Nippon Foundation. "We want to promote these places as new tourism resources for domestic and foreign visitors," said a statement from the tourism association.
The toilets on the tours were renovated by the Nippon Foundation and the Shibuya Ward Office from 2018 to 2023, aiming to dispel the image of public toilets as dirty, smelly, and dark.
As many as 16 internationally renowned architects and designers participated in the project, all of which have their own unique ideas. For example, the Jingumae public toilet is designed to resemble an old house in the Harajuku district, or the Yoyogi-Hachiman public toilet resembles mushrooms, blending into the nearby forest.
In May 2023, famous Japanese actor Koji Yakusho won the Best Actor award at the 76th Cannes Film Festival for his role in Perfect Days, a film about the daily life of a public toilet cleaner in Shibuya Ward. Taking advantage of the increasing public interest in toilets thanks to the film's appeal, Tokyo launched this novel tour.
There are two main tour routes: the East Route, which visits eight locations in the eastern part of Shibuya, including Jingumae Public Toilet; and the West Route, which visits nine locations in the western part of the ward, including Yoyogi-Hachiman Toilet. This unique tour costs 4,950 yen (over 800,000 VND).
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