A Portable Emergency Toilet From Japan

Last week Bit Rebels wrote an interesting piece about the aftermath of the earthquake in Japan. Although media attention in general has smoothly faded away and also focuses mainly on reports on radio-activity in Fukushima, Japan still has some major rebuilding issues to deal with.

Electricity and tapwater are still not available at many places in Japan. This effects life of millions of people that used to live in a very well organized and rich society. How will they deal with it? Even simple things like using the bathroom can suddenly become a challenge. But Japan wouldn’t be Japan if someone didn’t come up with a design solution like this emergency toilet. The toilet is a complete set focusing on privacy issues, odor and hygiene. It’s extremely portable and easily distributable.

Since the video isn’t in English, Japan Probe, has translated it. This is what you do:

  1. Place the colored bag over the cardboard stand.
  2. Place chemical pellets into the bag. They will solidify any liquids and absorb odor.
  3. Place the black poncho over yourself for privacy
  4. Pee in the bag.
  5. Tie the bag up. It is now ready for disposal.

An invention like this is also very welcome to other regions suffering from these major natural disasters. But why didn’t these regions come up with this simple idea? I guess Japanese design culture plays an important role here, as it is continuously looking after new methods and innovations. Besides it looks to the consumer market, which is well developed in Japan, and perhaps less in other, less privileged countries. Also for backpackers this product could be very interesting.