Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has added her voice to a growing cross-party push to improve toilet facilities for women inside the National Diet building, highlighting how the century-old legislature’s infrastructure has lagged behind the nation’s evolving political landscape. The campaign, backed by a majority of female lawmakers, underscores broader issues around gender equality, representation and workplace inclusion in Japanese politics.
A Lavatory Shortage in the Nation’s Parliament
A petition submitted in December 2025 by about 58 female Members of Parliament (MPs) — including Prime Minister Takaichi — calls for the installation of additional women’s toilets within the Diet building in Tokyo. Signatories argue that current facilities are insufficient for their needs, creating long lines and practical difficulties during working sessions.
At present, the parliament’s main plenary chamber is served by only one women’s restroom with two cubicles, even as a record 73 women were elected to the Lower House in the 2024 general election, the highest number in Japanese history. Overall, the entire building has just nine women’s toilets with 22 cubicles — compared with 12 men’s toilets with 67 stalls and urinals. Female staffers and visitors also must share these limited facilities, exacerbating congestion.
Opposition lawmaker Yasuko Komiyama of the Constitutional Democratic Party told reporters that the shortage often forces female lawmakers to skip using the restroom before sessions, a situation she described as “often inconvenient” and indicative of broader gender insensitivities in workplace design.
Historic Building Meets Modern Gender Balance
The Diet building in central Tokyo, completed in 1936, predates women’s suffrage in Japan by nearly a decade. Women were granted the right to vote in 1945 with the post-war constitution, and the first female lawmakers entered parliament in 1946. The building’s original design, unsurprisingly, reflected a male-dominated political environment, with little thought given to the needs of women.
As women’s representation in the Diet has grown — even if still far from parity — the disparity in basic facilities has become increasingly visible and politically charged. Campaigners argue that adequate restroom access is more than a convenience; it is a practical aspect of workplace equality that can affect participation, health and dignity.
Many advocates for the change say the issue resonates beyond the Diet: long queues for women’s toilets are a daily reality across Japan, from train stations to shopping districts, and reflect deeper infrastructural biases in public spaces.
PM Takaichi’s Position and Gender Equality Goals
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who became Japan’s first woman to hold the office in October 2025, has thrown her support behind the initiative, adding visibility and political weight to what might otherwise have been dismissed as a minor facilities complaint. Takaichi and other backers argue that improving women’s toilet access within parliament is a symbolically powerful and practical step toward making political life more inclusive.
Takaichi has publicly stated her intention to boost women’s participation in leadership and to bring Japan closer to gender norms seen in Nordic countries — even as the current cabinet remains male-dominated, with only two other women among 19 ministers. Critics note that restroom access is a small but illustrative part of a broader challenge.
Japan’s Global Gender Gap Index still places the country among the lower ranks of advanced economies, with persistent disparities in politics and economic participation. The restroom campaign has become a touchpoint in wider debates over how to make institutions more responsive to the needs of women — not only symbolically but in everyday practice.
Political and Cultural Reaction
Reactions to the push have been mixed. Many observers applaud the spotlight on a very ordinary but overlooked inequality, arguing that restroom access should keep pace with representation. Others — including some conservative commentators — have questioned why such a “basic” issue requires public debate, pointing to broader infrastructure costs or architectural limits in retrofitting older buildings.
Parliamentary officials, including the chair of the Lower House Rules and Administration Committee, have expressed openness to discussing improvements, indicating that consideration of additional facilities may begin in the new fiscal year.
Beyond the Diet: Reflection of Social Norms
The campaign is resonating outside the Diet as well. Long queues for women’s restrooms are a common sight throughout Japanese cities, in part because women typically require more time in cubicles and fewer stalls have been built in older or legacy structures. Improving facilities in the nation’s highest political institution could set a precedent for public building design nationwide.
For many advocates, the toilet debate is not merely about plumbing — it’s about acknowledging and addressing everyday barriers to gender equality in a society that still grapples with entrenched norms and lagging parity indicators.
What’s Next
With support from both government and opposition lawmakers, the push for more female toilets in the Diet building is gaining traction as a practical policy issue with symbolic resonance. Whether plans to expand restroom facilities proceed smoothly or stumble amid budgetary and architectural challenges, the debate highlights how even the most basic infrastructure needs can reflect broader questions about inclusion, equality and the lived realities of women in politics and public life.
