"Why Are Lines So Long at Women's Restrooms?"... Japan to Address Gender Gap in Public Toilets

When There Are 10 Men's Toilets, Only 6 to 7 for Women
Overhauling Male-Centric Designs... First-Ever Guidelines Introduced

The Japanese government is set to introduce its first guidelines recommending that more women's toilets be installed than men's in public facilities, in an effort to resolve the issue of long lines at women's restrooms. This initiative aims to address the imbalance in usage by revising the structure of public toilets, which have historically been designed with a male-centric perspective.

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On May 18, Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism plans to finalize guidelines for the maintenance of restrooms in public facilities such as train stations, airports, and stadiums within this month. The core of the guidelines is to encourage facilities with similar numbers of male and female users to provide more toilets for women than for men.

Many public restrooms in Japan were originally designed based on male usage patterns, leading to a persistent shortage of women's toilets.

A survey conducted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in August and September last year found that in a significant number of facilities, there were fewer women's toilets than men's. For train stations, the proportion of women's toilets was 0.63, and for airports, it was 0.66. This means that for every 10 men's toilets, there were only about 6 to 7 for women.

Similar results were found in private sector surveys. In a survey of 1,350 train stations and commercial facilities nationwide, men's toilets outnumbered women's in about 90% of cases, and overall, the number of men's toilets was about 1.7 times that of women's.

In reality, congestion is severe. In late April, during weekday evening rush hour at Tokyo's Shibuya Station, long lines stretched out into the corridor in front of the women's restroom, and it was reported that many people gave up using the facilities after seeing the crowds, making such inconveniences commonplace. The Japanese government also identified the fact that women, on average, spend about three times longer in restrooms than men as one of the main causes of this congestion.

However, the new guidelines are not legally binding. There are concerns that it is difficult to secure additional space in existing facilities due to structural limitations, and the high cost of renovations makes short-term improvements challenging. For this reason, the Japanese government also plans to promote the use of digital technologies, such as real-time vacancy information systems, to disperse restroom users more effectively.

Meanwhile, Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that in South Korea, laws already require large-scale facilities to install more toilets for women than for men. In fact, Article 7 of the "Act on Public Toilets, etc." in South Korea mandates that the number of toilets for women must be at least equal to the combined number of urinals and toilets for men. In addition, for facilities with a capacity of 1,000 or more people, such as theaters, exhibition halls, parks, and amusement parks, the number of women's toilets must be at least 1.5 times that of men's.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.