Rural town’s attempt to draw tourists may have gone a step too far.

In recent years, Japanese public toilets have become known not only as places to do your business but as tourist attractions with creative design features. So you can’t really blame the Kagawa Prefectural Government when they saw an opportunity to turn a local public toilet into a tourist magnet. However, the resulting facility turned out to be so extravagant that it became a source of division instead.

The new building was unveiled to the public on 22 March outside JR Kinashi Station in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture. During the official opening ceremony at the site that night, the mood was high, with government officials hailing it as a much-needed improvement to the previous outdated building, which housed a unisex, squat-style pit toilet that had long elicited complaints from residents over its poor condition and hygiene.

▼ This report shows the opening ceremony and the state of the former facilities.

When the station’s operators, JR Shikoku, said it would prefer to remove the facility altogether rather than rebuild it due to a lack of funds, prefectural officials stepped in with a plan to build a new public toilet, in order to serve the station’s approximately 600 daily boarding passengers, as well as students from a nearby prefectural high school who often stop to use the facilities.

▼ Kinashi Station sits two stops west of Takamatsu Station on the JR Yosan Line and ranks 14th out of Kagawa Prefecture’s 48 JR stations by passenger numbers.

The new building now contains separate men’s, women’s, and multi-purpose toilets with modern amenities, which locals have expressed appreciation for. The real wow factor, though, is the exterior, which acts as a canvas for two nightly projection mapping shows, held from 7:15 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and again from 8:20 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Weekday displays feature illuminated angel wings, while weekends showcase a rotating selection of different artworks, including student-produced videos.

While the light display has turned the public toilet into an eye-catching landmark, it also aims to help nurture young creators, with local students and emerging artists encouraged to submit their own projection mapping designs, giving them a rare opportunity to see their work displayed publicly.

Officials also hope the unusual attraction will encourage more visitors to stop by the area. As Japan’s leading producer of pine bonsai, Kinashi already attracts international visitors interested in the local craft, so it’s hoped that word of the unique building will spread amongst overseas travellers, helping to bring more tourism to the area.

Despite these admirable goals, the unusual concept has been attracting the wrong kind of attention, as many locals have been surprised to learn that the entire project reportedly cost around 100 million yen (US$670,000).

Local opinion over the cost has been divided, with some residents arguing that the money could have been better spent elsewhere, while others say the discussion itself has helped to shine a spotlight on the town and its attractions.

Like any revitalisation project, the return on investment may take some time to reveal itself, so we’ll have to wait and see whether this expensive toilet has the power to breathe new life into the town. One thing is certain, though – it’s certainly helped put Kinashi Station on the map by making headlines, and if you’d like to help support the town, you now know where to stop and do your business.

Sources: Kagawa Prefectural Government, Asahi Shimbun via Yahoo! Japan News (1, 2, 3)
Images: Kagawa Prefectural Government
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