Nara prefectural high schools to replace 'dirty, smelly' Japanese-style squat toilets

NARA -- Nara prefectural high schools will replace "dirty and smelly" Japanese-style squat toilets with Western-style ones during major renovation work starting in the 2024 school year.

The five-year project to spruce up the toilets at all 29 prefectural high schools will cost about 5.5 billion yen (roughly $36 million), which will be included in the prefectural government's initial budget plan for fiscal 2024. Having completed seismic strengthening work on aging school buildings, the Nara Prefectural Board of Education has decided to take the next step to update the lavatory facilities.

Western-style toilets have become widespread, and many students are not accustomed to using Japanese-style latrines. Currently, only 35% of toilets at prefectural high schools are Western-style, and many students commented that squat loos were dirty and smelly, so the education board has decided to renovate them.

School toilets often have tile floors that are cleaned with water sprinkled directly on them, but it is said this tends to cause moisture to accumulate and makes it easier for bacteria to multiply, so the new toilets will have the same type of floors as classrooms, enabling them to be easily wiped clean.

The education board plans to complete designing the new toilets in fiscal 2024 and conduct the renovation work from the 2025 school year. Nara Gov. Makoto Yamashita, who announced the plan on Oct. 18, said, "The prefectural high school facilities are old, but I hope the students will at least be pleased with the cleanliness of the toilets."

(Japanese original by Yuhi Yoshikawa, Nara Bureau)