Osaka Gas to Start Service Showing Real-Time Toilet Vacancies

August 22, 2018

Osaka- Osaka Gas Co. said Tuesday that it will start a service showing whether toilets are vacant in office buildings and commercial facilities in real time via the Internet.

Working with Vacan Inc., a Tokyo-based information technology startup, the gas supplier will launch the service, named ekul toilet, Sept. 1.

Osaka Gas hopes that the service will lead to a more comfortable bathroom experience. It will reduce the stress of people looking for toilets and alert building managers when a stall is occupied for a very long time.

For the time being, the service will be available for toilets in some 800,000 buildings and facilities in the Kansai western Japan region. The company is considering expanding the service area to include the Tokyo metropolitan area.

The service has "high potential," an Osaka Gas official said, adding that interest in comfortable toilets is rising. "We hope many people will use our service," the official continued.

The service, which uses a system developed by Vacan, will check the availability of toilets through sensors on the doors of stalls. Service users will be able to obtain information on the current availability on smartphones and computers. Jiji Press