Tokyo’s metropolitan government is seeking to install gender-neutral public restrooms in the venues it is constructing for the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics.
While daredemo toire (“everyone’s toilets”) suitable for either men or women have existed for several years in Japan, they have previously been designed as larger spaces designed to accommodate patrons in wheelchairs.
The new-concept unisex toilets would be smaller spaces able to accommodate two people but not wheelchairs, the Asahi Shimbun reported. By introducing suitable options for transgender spectators and disabled people, the government hopes to reduce queues for the pre-existing daredemo toire.
Maki Muraki, the head of nonprofit LGBT advocacy group Nijiiro Diversity, praised the government’s embrace of the spirit of inclusivity.
“Along with the effort to increase the number of public toilets, to raise people’s awareness that those who do not look like a typical man or woman can use a toilet as a matter of course is also important,” she told the newspaper.
At least one universal-use toilet has been planned for seven of the 11 venues the metropolitan government is building from scratch.
The announcement comes one week after the Trump administration reversed a piece of federal guidance requiring US transgender students to have unfettered access to bathrooms and locker rooms matching their gender identity.
