FEATURE: Toilet survey finds gender gap in Japan's restrooms
Manami Momose works as an administrative scrivener in Tokyo. Frustrated by the lineups, she looked into the situation and found that the majority of facilities around Japan allocate equal space to men's and women's toilets even though the former include urinals, compact toilets that allow more loos to be packed into a given area.
Momose started a survey after an experience she had in the summer of 2022 at JR Kurashiki Station in Okayama Prefecture in western Japan, which she used when traveling as a fan of the Japanese male pop quartet Junretsu.
At the station, there was a queue of about five or six women standing outside the ladies' restroom.
After waiting her turn, she decided to count the number of toilets posted on an information board. She was surprised to learn that there were seven toilets including urinals for men, but only four for women.
For the next three years, Momose continued to investigate the "gender gap" in restrooms at public transportation and commercial facilities she visited. If there were no information boards, she enlisted the help of her husband and male friends, or asked men who were there.
According to Momose, the average male-to-female ratio of toilets of the 907 locations she surveyed by late June was 1.73 times higher for men than for women. Only 5 percent of all the facilities had more toilets in ladies' rooms.
When she sent out messages on X (formerly Twitter) with hashtags such as #OnlyLongLinesForWomen'sRestrooms, she received many sympathetic responses such as "Women are being forced to wait." Another commentator said, "This is not right considering the ratio of the population," referring to a recent government estimate showing females outnumbering males in Japan by 3.3 million.
"Women definitely are being made to wait because of fewer toilets. There should at least be an equal number for men and women," said Momose, 60.
"Women might take longer than men as they must lower and lift garments or change sanitary napkins," she continued. "But this is a human rights issue that also affects health, and it isn't natural for women to have to put up with this."
When asked why there is a restroom disparity at Kurashiki Station, a JR West official said, "The number of restrooms is designed based on a comprehensive consideration of the station's size and space."
A representative of a transport operator in the Tokyo metropolitan area said the company allocates the same area for men and women and installs as many toilets as possible. As a result, there are more toilets for men.
"We will continue to consider the best arrangement of toilets based on passenger feedback," the representative said.
Atsushi Kato, president of Japan Toilet Labo., a nonprofit which provides educational activities on toilet-related issues, commended Momose's survey for drawing attention to the issue, saying, "It is important to make the problem visible."
Kato added that toilets also need easy-to-understand instructions to alleviate crowd congestion, as well as enough space for people with bulky luggage.
Toilets must be improved in light of social diversity, he said, bearing in mind not only female users but the increase in visitors to Japan as well as wheelchair and stroller users.
"We must incorporate diverse perspectives and improve restrooms in response to social changes," Kato said.
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