16 famous architects came together in Japan to design the world's most beautiful… public toilets
"Beauty and cleanliness go hand in hand."
A woman sits on top of a toilet tank in a public restroom.
We might not talk about public toilets enough. Most of us need them now and again, and sometimes finding one that's suitable can be a challenge—if one can be found at all. There have been jokes for decades about stumbling into the "right" coffee shop and learning their bathroom code. But for a lot of people, it's no laughing matter.
Some places in the world are better on this matter than others. In a recent article from SecuriCare, a continence care products company, listing the top five cities for public "toilet accessibility," Paris came in at number one. "Paris has the most public toilets per square kilometre out of any European city." That said, the piece mentions that Tokyo actually has more public restrooms than Paris, but "not all of them are accessible to people with disabilities—traditional squatting toilets are still a common feature." Sydney, Australia, Zurich, Switzerland, and Copenhagen in Denmark round out the list.
Just recently, The Tokyo Toiletproject, an innovative movement that inspired 16 architects to design accessible (and pleasant) public bathrooms, has come back into the limelight. Canadian photographer Ulana Switucha won top honors in the "architecture and design" category in the prestigious Sony World Photography Awards for taking crisp, striking photos of some of the impressive bathrooms.
In a piece for Bustle, writer Josh Niland shares, "Their elevation beyond a mere public convenience and into a form of public art authentically reflects the intents and purposes of the architects behind them—names such as Sou Fujimoto, Kengo Kuma, and, more recently, Toyo Ito and Marc Newsom."
So what is the Tokyo Toilet project, exactly? Specifically focused on the dense area of Shibuya, this ongoing project was the brainchild of Koji Yanai, according to their YouTube introductory video, and is "a unique project to redesign the public toilets of Tokyo."
- An introduction into the Tokyo Toilet project in Japan. www.youtube.com, The Tokyo Toilet
One of the architects, Tadao Ando, relays, "We are reminded that beauty and cleanliness go hand in hand." And on The Tokyo Toilet website, it's stated why this project fit so well into Japanese culture. "Toilets are a symbol of Japan's world-renowned hospitality culture. Public toilets will be redesigned in 17 locations throughout Shibuya with the help of 16 creators invited from around the world."
It was brought even further to the world's attention after Wim Wenders directed a full-length feature drama in 2023 called Perfect Days. Quite simply, it's about a janitor who works for the Tokyo Toilet project. This movie was not only nominated for an Oscar, it helped put the whole idea on the map, drawing attention to these incredibly innovative designs.
-Trailer for the film Perfect Days. www.youtube.com, Neon
But for those living in the States, there are some beautiful public bathrooms, as well. Just last year, CNN reported that the winner of "America's Best Restroom" contest went to a Maverick gas station in Salt Lake City, Utah. Forrest Brown reported, "The online nominations list said that 'Maverick's restrooms deserve recognition for their commitment to cleanliness and comfort, with sparkling fixtures, spacious stalls and fresh amenities.'"
And this year? The top honors for 2025 best public restroom went to Bear Head Lake State Park in Ely, Minnesota.
Let’s hope these accessible, clean bathrooms that are on the rise continue to inspire other architects and builders to ensure that the public has true access to this very important necessity.
A Generation Jones teenager poses in her room.Image via Wikmedia Commons
An office kitchen.via 
An angry man eating spaghetti.via 
Gif of baby being baptized
Woman gives toddler a bath Canva
An Irish woman went to the doctor for a routine eye exam. She left with bright neon green eyes.
It's not easy seeing green.
Did she get superpowers?
Going to the eye doctor can be a hassle and a pain. It's not just the routine issues and inconveniences that come along when making a doctor appointment, but sometimes the various devices being used to check your eyes' health feel invasive and uncomfortable. But at least at the end of the appointment, most of us don't look like we're turning into The Incredible Hulk. That wasn't the case for one Irish woman.
Photographer Margerita B. Wargola was just going in for a routine eye exam at the hospital but ended up leaving with her eyes a shocking, bright neon green.
At the doctor's office, the nurse practitioner was prepping Wargola for a test with a machine that Wargola had experienced before. Before the test started, Wargola presumed the nurse had dropped some saline into her eyes, as they were feeling dry. After she blinked, everything went yellow.
Wargola and the nurse initially panicked. Neither knew what was going on as Wargola suddenly had yellow vision and radioactive-looking green eyes. After the initial shock, both realized the issue: the nurse forgot to ask Wargola to remove her contact lenses before putting contrast drops in her eyes for the exam. Wargola and the nurse quickly removed the lenses from her eyes and washed them thoroughly with saline. Fortunately, Wargola's eyes were unharmed. Unfortunately, her contacts were permanently stained and she didn't bring a spare pair.
- YouTube youtube.com
Since she has poor vision, Wargola was forced to drive herself home after the eye exam wearing the neon-green contact lenses that make her look like a member of the Green Lantern Corps. She couldn't help but laugh at her predicament and recorded a video explaining it all on social media. Since then, her video has sparked a couple Reddit threads and collected a bunch of comments on Instagram:
“But the REAL question is: do you now have X-Ray vision?”
“You can just say you're a superhero.”
“I would make a few stops on the way home just to freak some people out!”
“I would have lived it up! Grab a coffee, do grocery shopping, walk around a shopping center.”
“This one would pair well with that girl who ate something with turmeric with her invisalign on and walked around Paris smiling at people with seemingly BRIGHT YELLOW TEETH.”
“I would save those for fancy special occasions! WOW!”
“Every time I'd stop I'd turn slowly and stare at the person in the car next to me.”
“Keep them. Tell people what to do. They’ll do your bidding.”
In a follow-up Instagram video, Wargola showed her followers that she was safe at home with normal eyes, showing that the damaged contact lenses were so stained that they turned the saline solution in her contacts case into a bright Gatorade yellow. She wasn't mad at the nurse and, in fact, plans on keeping the lenses to wear on St. Patrick's Day or some other special occasion.
While no harm was done and a good laugh was had, it's still best for doctors, nurses, and patients alike to double-check and ask or tell if contact lenses are being worn before each eye test. If not, there might be more than ultra-green eyes to worry about.