Particle.news
Download on the App Store
4 ARTICLES
·
5h ago

Women Lawmakers Petition Japan's Lower House for More Restrooms as Committee Pledges Review

The request highlights a severe shortage of stalls near the chamber in a building designed before women had the vote.

Sanae Takaichi, Japan's prime minister, during a party leaders' debate at the upper house of parliament in Tokyo, Japan, in November 2025.
Image
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
Image

Overview

  • Fifty-eight female members, including Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, signed the cross-party petition, representing roughly 80% of women in the lower house.
  • Organizers asked for additional women’s facilities near the plenary chamber as early as the next fiscal year.
  • The lower house has 12 men’s toilets with 67 stalls and urinals versus nine women’s facilities with a total of 22 cubicles, with only one two-stall women’s restroom near the chamber.
  • Rules and Administration Committee chair Yasukazu Hamada said the committee would “discuss the matter positively.”
  • Lawmakers report daily queues that can impede proceedings, with one organizer saying they sometimes have to forgo using the restroom and “just hold it.”