Weekly News Digest
産経オンライン英会話 ニュースディスカッション教材
Tokyo's Shibuya Ward can be very creative. The voice-operated "Hi Toilet" is one of its latest public
offerings and looks like a Japanese sweet!
While I was taking a walk in Tokyo's Shibuya district, I noticed a hemispherical white object sticking
out
between the rows of trees. Looking just like a giant daifuku, a sweet rice cake stuffed with bean jam that
had fallen on the ground, it invited
further inspection. Walking around it, I realized it was a toilet!
Named "Hi Toilet", the lavatory has been installed to make the experience of using public toilets more
pleasant. Sitting in a park in the community of Hatagaya, in Tokyo's Shibuya's Ward, it has been
changing
the image of what has often been considered a dark and dirty necessity. Moreover, it seems popular
among users.
Just saying "run the water" or "open the door" would make the toilet work. In fact, the strange
experience
of speaking out alone in a private space made me forget to use it.
Are you thinking of visiting? You can get to Hatagaya by taking the Keio New Line to Hatagaya Station.
There are also plenty of public buses
serving Hatagaya from Tokyo's Shinjuku, Nakano, Shibuya, Asagaya
and Yoyogi neighborhoods.
散歩の途中で目についた、並木の間から顔を出す半球状の白い物体。巨大な大福が地面に落ちているかのようだ。反対側
に回って、それがトイレだと気付いた。
「Ｈｉ Ｔｏｉｌｅｔ」と名付けられたこのトイレは、東京都渋谷区幡ケ谷の公園にある。同区の公共トイレを快適にするプロジェクト
の一環で設置された。暗い、汚いといったイメージを覆し、利用者からも好評のようだ。
「水を流して」「扉を開けて」など、トイレにおける全ての操作を音声で行うことができる。個室内で一人、声を発する不思議な
体験は、用を足すのを忘れてしまうほどだった。