From January 21 to 23, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government hosted a three-day program; “Study Course for Public Cleanliness: Sanitary Maintenance and Building Awareness among the Residents.” The program was organized in response to a simple question that was raised by an official of the Kuala Lumpur City Hall Health and Environment Department: “Why are the public toilets in Tokyo so clean?”
We were surprised by the question because we never thought of that. From that time, TMG staff began scrutinizing the public toilets to understand why they were told “clean”. After the close observation, we found that not all the toilets were very clean, and there were maintenance personnel who clean them frequently. We also remember when we were children, that was only 20 or 30 years ago, public toilets were unlit and filthy, places that you would avoid if possible. What had changed between then and now? We realized that today toilet cleanliness has been achieved thanks to the improvement of cleaning technique, efforts to raise public awareness of keeping public space clean, and round-the-clock maintenance by dedicated cleaning personnel.

Participants visit public toilets in Tokyo Station.

Then we decided to organize the program around three major themes: 1) the history of public sanitation policy in Tokyo, 2) measures to maintain clean toilets, and 3) measures to educate the public on how to use toilets properly. Through this training program we hope that other Asian cities can learn from the experience of Tokyo.

With the attendance of 15 participants from Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, and Delhi, this program turned out to be the most popular we have offered over these last few years.
Participants visited various sites in Tokyo to gain a deeper insight regarding these three major themes. According to feedback from the participants, they were most impressed by the following site tours; the train station and the elementary school.

Participants enthusiastically observe an elementary school class.

To learn how public toilets are maintained, the participants visited Tokyo Station, one of the busiest railroad hubs in Japan, where they observed the maintenance of heavily-used public toilets inside the station. The participants showed great interest in the toilet cleaning manual, and after watching a DVD showing how the personnel cleaned the toilets, they applauded heartily in a show of appreciation and respect to the personnel. (The TMG staffs were also surprised to learn how carefully the toilets were scrubbed.) One of the participants remarked that the personnel must have great pride in their work because they scrub and clean the public toilets so meticulously.
The participants also visited an elementary school to deepen their understanding about how the public is educated about the importance of keeping the public facilities clean. This site tour proved to be the most popular. After first observing the pupils tidy up and clean their classrooms, the visitors observed a moral and ethics class. The participants were particularly surprised to watch the children actively discussing the importance of handling public goods with care.

Participants engage in active discussions.

To wrap up the program, Dr. Shiohiko Takahashi, President of the Japan Toilet Association, was invited as a guest speaker to share his unique insight into how public toilets in Tokyo have evolved from the times when they were unsightly places. During the discussions which focused on the important takeaways from the program, Dr. Takahashi shared his experience regarding the efforts that were made to transform public restrooms into places where toilet manufacturers and cleaning personnel could work with pride, one of which was to award the best toilet-related initiative. During the discussion regarding the takeaways, the participants offered the following comments:“The elementary school education has been very effective and that is why people use toilets cleanly.” “In my city too, if we can change the general public’s impression of toilet cleaning so that the cleaning personnel will be better respected, then people will keep the toilets clean.”

Though the program was held for only three days, during this short time, we learned much about how toilet cleanliness is being maintained and how the public is being educated to ensure the proper use of common facilities. The participants have by now returned to their respective cities, and their respective works of public sanitation or maintenance of public facilities. It would be a great honor and joy for us if this study course could contribute to making Asian cities even more attractive.