Photo/Illutration A multifunctional restroom at Hatchobori Station on Tokyo Metro Co.’s Hibiya Line in the capital’s Chuo Ward (Provided by Tokyo Metro Co.)

A man died after he was found collapsed in a subway station multipurpose restroom in Tokyo’s Chuo Ward about seven hours after he entered it, Tokyo Metro Co. said on March 2.

The operator of the subway line attributed the delay in discovering the man to malfunctioning of equipment installed in the multifunctional restroom, which alerts station staff in the event of an emergency.

The company said it is not known whether the nonworking systems contributed to his death.

The transport ministry on March 2 issued a directive to railway operators nationwide urging them to check the functioning of equipment installed at their stations and ensure it is properly managed.

According to Tokyo Metro and others, a man in his 50s entered a multifunctional restroom, which is separate from the other restroom facilities, at Hatchobori Station on the Hibiya Line at around 4 p.m. on June 7 last year.

Roughly seven hours later, a security guard who was patrolling the area noticed a blinking light that indicated the restroom was occupied. The guard notified a station staffer, and they unlocked the door of the room to find the man collapsed inside.

The man was rushed to a hospital but pronounced dead.

The Metropolitan Police Department said the man died from a disease, adding that it has not confirmed that anyone else entered the restroom during the period.

An alarm at a station office room should be triggered when a multifunctional restroom is occupied for more than 30 minutes. However, the system did not function because the alarm was not connected by cable, according to Tokyo Metro.

Pressing an emergency call button installed in a multifunctional restroom will also activate a separate system, but the breaker of a device that transmits the signal was turned off, the company said.

Tokyo Metro acknowledged that it failed to detect the malfunctioning equipment because the emergency function was not tested before it was put into use in 2012.

The railway operator said it conducted emergency checks on about 220 multifunctional restrooms with similar equipment at its stations in the greater Tokyo metropolitan area. The company finished repairing equipment that was not working properly in 12 of them.

Tokyo Metro added that it will form a committee of experts, including those from outside the company, to investigate the cause of the incident and implement thorough measures to prevent a recurrence.

The government’s guidelines have no particular rules on the maintenance of alarm systems and emergency call buttons installed in multifunctional restrooms at train stations, airports and other public spaces.

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