Japanese toilets aren’t all they’re cracked up to be

What is the world’s best city in which to be caught short? You can imagine a lively discussion on this question on a TripAdvisor forum. A strong candidate would be Tokyo, which has recently added to its long list of otherworldly attractions, a collection of 17 high-tech architect designed public lavatories. The toilets feature, and arguably star, in Wim Wender’s Oscar-winning film Perfect Days which tells the story of a reclusive, obsessively diligent cleaner whose job it is to keep the facilities in immaculate condition.

The public toilets are the result of a project by the non-profit Nippon foundation, which invited 16 distinguished architects to design one, or in one case two, public conveniences each, letting their imaginations run rampant in the process. The foundation then invited Wenders to view the results in the hope that the great German director might produce a short promotional film.