Visitors to Transparent Bathroom won’t be Caught with Their Pants Down

The Japanese have some unusual bathrooms, but we’d guess most prefer to use them without an audience. So what’s the deal with these see-through Tokyo public toilets by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Shigeru Ban? Well, though they’re transparent when not in use, they turn opaque when occupied.

The bathrooms are located in Haru-no-Ogawa Community Park and the Yoyogi Fukamachi Mini Park, both in Tokyo’s Shibuya area. The only difference between them is that the first is cyan, lime green, and blue, while the second is yellow, pink, and purple. Their colorful transparent design definitely stands out, but has a practical reason too.

“There are two concerns with public toilets, especially those located in parks,” explains non-profit The Nippon Foundation, the organizers behind the project. “The first is whether it is clean inside, and the second is that no one is secretly waiting inside.

Using a new technology, we made the outer walls with glass that becomes opaque when the lock is closed, so that a person can check inside before entering. At night, they light up the parks like a beautiful lantern.