#17: Hiroo East Park

Squid Toilet

Location #17 is at 4-2-27 Hiroo, Shibuya, in the Hiroo East Park, or Hiro-o Higashi Kōen. It is close to the northern exits of Hiro-o Station, H 03 on the Hibiya Line of the subway.

The designer, Tomohito Ushiro, wrote that he designed the toilet to be a piece of public art in addition to being a safe and clean toilet facility.

Visiting the Toilet

The park is in a steeply sloping wooded area.

Overview of Hiroo East Park Public Toilet.

The rear side of the toilet facility, opposite the doors, is a large light panel behind glass. It displays random patterns, green during the day and white at night. The designer says that a total of 7.9 billion light patterns are possible, almost 2³³, approximately the same as the world's population.

Light panel on the rear of the Hiroo East Park Public Toilet.

Yes, I have been marking all of these facilities as used, because at the very least I carefully washed my hands with soap and warm water at each one. I was drinking fluids to stay hydrated, but even so, I didn't need to use the toilet or urinal at every one.

I was visiting this one at the end of the afternoon, the last location for that day, and the last of all seventeen. Before checking out the details, I needed more fluid.

The nearby vending machines didn't have any Pocari Sweat, but they did have this Double Lemon. 1,000 mg of ascorbic acid and 3,000 mg of citric acid, it's tart. And, most importantly, wet.