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3h ago

Takaichi Joins Female Lawmakers Urging More Women’s Restrooms in Japan’s Lower House

The push cites daily queues that lawmakers say hinder proceedings in a building designed before women could vote.

Sanae Takaichi, Japan's prime minister, during a party leaders' debate at the upper house of parliament in Tokyo, Japan, in November 2025.
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Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is among 60 women lawmakers who have signed a petition calling for more toilet facilities for them in the parliamant building
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Overview

  • Fifty-eight female representatives, including Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, backed a cross‑party petition submitted in December to the lower house Rules and Administration Committee.
  • Committee chair Yasukazu Hamada said the request for additional facilities would be discussed positively, according to lawmakers present.
  • The lower house has 12 men’s toilets with 67 stalls and urinals versus nine women’s facilities with 22 cubicles in total, based on Yomiuri Shimbun figures.
  • Near the plenary chamber there is only one women’s restroom with two stalls, which lawmakers say leads to long lines before sessions.
  • Petitioners asked for new women’s restrooms to be installed as early as the next fiscal year, noting a record 73 women now serve in the chamber and that the shortage affects staff and journalists as well.