Want to poop in public? Japan offers transparent pods; Thailand’s mirror urinals raise a stink and scandal

At first, it’s hard to fathom how a public restroom with transparent walls could possibly help ease toilet anxiety, but that’s exactly what one of Japan’s most innovative architects set out to achieve.

Public toilets have a bad reputation worldwide. Even in Japan, where hygiene standards are higher than in many other countries, people often describe public restrooms as dark, dirty, smelly, or intimidating.

To change this perception, the non-profit Nippon Foundation launched The Tokyo Toilet Project, enlisting 16 renowned architects to redesign 17 public restrooms across Shibuya, one of Tokyo’s busiest districts.


The mission was simple but ambitious: make public bathrooms feel safe, accessible, and welcoming for everyone, regardless of gender, age, or disability.

The most talked-about creation so far comes from Pritzker Prize-winning architect Shigeru Ban, whose transparent restrooms debuted in Haru-no-Ogawa Community Park and Yoyogi Fukamachi Mini Park.

At first, they look like glowing glass boxes, but once the door locks, the walls instantly turn opaque, blending trust, technology, and design in one unusual experiment.

However, the story is not the same across Asia. In April of this year, a Thai pub faced significant backlash due to its urinals being positioned in front of a two-way mirror, showing men using the urinals while women on the other side unknowingly checked their reflections.

Japan’s transparent toilets: When privacy meets trust

In 2020, Tokyo unveiled its now-famous “see-through toilets,” part of a citywide initiative to make public restrooms feel safer and cleaner.

Built with smart glass that turns opaque the moment the door is locked, the toilets were designed to answer two simple questions: Is it clean? And is it occupied?

At first glance, they looked like something out of a new world theme, colorful glass boxes glowing in city parks.

The design quickly became a global sensation, celebrated as an example of how Japan’s obsession with cleanliness and technology could transform even the most mundane public utility into a showcase of trust and innovation.

When mirrors cross the line

If Japan’s experiment leaned on transparency to build trust, others have misfired by twisting the idea of reflection into intrusion.

The 2025 Thai pub’s urinals, which face a two-way mirror, sparked online backlash. A video showing men using the urinal while women on the other side unknowingly checked their reflections drew millions of horrified views. People commented on how absurd and perverse it was.

A similar but more bizarre uproar was seen in China in 2021, when a Guangzhou bar installed two-way mirrors in women’s bathrooms, giving men in ‘VIP’ rooms a secret view as women fixed their appearance.