Toilets at highway rest stops provide more than just relief. They can also prevent property losses, communicate in multiple languages and even save drivers’ lives.

The high-tech nature of these toilets has its roots in efforts just to keep the restrooms clean.

Senior officials of Central Nippon Expressway Co. (NEXCO Central) have been pioneers in the public restroom sector because they believe safety and security should cover both roads and toilets.

The latest safety measure of the Nagoya-based expressway operator can be found in bathroom stalls at the Ebina Service Area rest stop on the Tomei Expressway in Ebina, Kanagawa Prefecture.

When the user sits on the toilet and presses a button on the LCD screen installed on a wall, their fatigue level will be shown about one minute later.

“Fatigue can lead to careless driving. We thought about ways to let drivers know, ‘You must be tired,’” said Koji Yamamoto, 55, vice chief of NEXCO Central’s Yokohama Maintenance/ Customer Service Center.

Yamamoto, who was in charge of developing the smart toilet system, said he started the project to reduce traffic jams and accidents because the area in Ebina has one of the heaviest traffic volumes in the country.

He said that measuring fatigue levels based on camera images and other visual-based information would be difficult, because toilet users certainly would not want cameras watching them as they do their business.

Yamamoto decided to install acceleration sensors on the toilet seat after learning that they can measure heart rates.

He bought parts in Tokyo’s Akihabara district to build a prototype, and after testing at a university, the smart toilet was completed.

The fatigue-measuring toilet stalls were introduced in late December last year.

At least 7,000 people used the toilets in less than four weeks after they were installed. More than 30 percent of them were found to be either “tired” or “a little tired.”

Yamamoto presented his invention at an international conference for road traffic and transportation last autumn in Singapore and received a positive response from the attendees.

“They seemed to be shocked to see that the toilet seat could measure the fatigue level,” Yamamoto said.

TABLETS FOR NON-JAPANESE SPEAKERS

NEXCO Central has introduced another safety feature for more urgent emergencies.

A different type of sensor on the ceiling alerts others nearby with lights and sounds when there is no movement in the stall for a certain amount of time. The toilet user may have fallen asleep, or worse, suddenly fallen ill.

The sensor can also raise an alert if it detects that items have been left behind in the stall.

For privacy reasons, the sensor only captures the outlines of the user and the forgotten articles.
For non-Japanese users unaccustomed to Japanese toilets, a tablet device in the stalls can be used as a remote controller to provide instructions in 14 languages.

NEXCO Central has a long history of cleaning up the foul image of public restrooms.

In fiscal 2013, the company introduced a button that users can press to notify staff members when the toilet needs cleaning.

In the men’s bathroom at the Komakado Parking Area rest stop in Gotenba, Shizuoka Prefecture, urinals are separated by partitions equipped with odor-eliminating functions using filters and fans.

The restroom used to be ventilated 10 to 20 times per hour. But the addition of the partitions has reduced the frequency to five times per hour, resulting in cost savings.

NEXCO Central also developed an app to determine how often each toilet is used. Based on the data, the company can change the designs of the restrooms depending on their location.

The program was developed by Yuji Ito, 34, who works at the facilities division of the company's Tokyo Branch.

Ito said he started his research on the relationship between people and space in toilets after he joined the company. He later earned a doctorate at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.

AIMING FOR THE TOP

Shinichi Gunki, 58, vice president of NEXCO Central’s Tokyo Branch, along with Yamamoto spearheaded the company's efforts to place great importance on toilets.

“We want to be the front-runner in the public bathroom sector,” Gunki said of the expressway operator, which was privatized in 2005.

The previous restrooms were dark and dirty. Water was sprayed to clean them, but foul odors lingered in the facilities.

Gunki, who was in charge of facilities management at the then-Yokohama Branch, and other staff members were determined to make rest stop restrooms as comfortable as those in hotels and other commercial complexes.

After seeking advice from a university professor and other experts, the NEXCO Central staff decided that an ideal public restroom would provide an “oasis-like space” and respond quickly to the needs of the times.

When restrooms at the Nihondaira Parking Area rest stop in Shizuoka were remodeled, a dry-cleaning method was introduced to sweep the floor with well-squeezed mops and use other tools instead of spraying water.

The renovated restrooms also received a woody interior for an elegant look. The design was later used at other restrooms.

“We see (restrooms) in the same light as roads,” Gunki said. “We strive to improve security and safety also for toilets.”

Representatives from railway companies, airport operators and retailers have visited NEXCO Central’s restrooms to learn about the latest functions.

“I hope other public restrooms follow in our footsteps,” said Gunki, who also serves as vice chair of the Japan Toilet Association, a general incorporated association.