Toilet Vehicles Provide Comfort During Disaster; Vehicles Popular with Evacuees Due to Cleanliness, Comfort

By Ayumu Nishimura / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

12:24 JST, February 16, 2026

SUMOTO, Hyogo — More and more local governments nationwide are introducing vehicles equipped with toilet facilities to be used in evacuation centers during disasters.

The vehicles attracted attention in the wake of the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake. Despite the disaster, the technology, equipped with air conditioning, heaters and heated toilet seats, ensured a comfortable restroom environment.

As of November 2024, only 37 such vehicles had been acquired by local governments across the country, according to a survey conducted by the Cabinet Office.

The central government began subsidizing half of the vehicles’ installation costs in November 2024, which accelerated adoption, with 108 municipalities receiving subsidies for a total of 231 units in fiscal 2024.

According to toilet vehicle manufacturer Montelion Co., annual orders surged in fiscal 2025 from just a few units to about 250 units in around 150 municipalities. The company, which is based in Kurate, Fukuoka Prefecture, is increasing its staff and building new factories to cope with the surge in orders, a company official said.

In preparation for a possible Nankai Trough earthquake, the city of Minami-Awaji in Hyogo Prefecture was quick to acquire a toilet vehicle, purchasing a unit in November 2020 for about ¥15.8 million. The vehicle is equipped with two men’s toilets and two women’s toilets, as well as one for people with particular needs. It was dispatched for about five months to the areas affected by the Noto earthquake.

Municipal governments with toilet vehicles have signed an agreement to dispatch them to each other when a disaster strikes. Minami-Awaji signed the agreement with Uwajima in Ehime Prefecture and Shimabara in Nagasaki Prefecture in 2023. The agreement has now been expanded to include nine municipalities in seven prefectures, including Katano, Osaka Prefecture, and Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture. Matsuyama, which acquired three toilet vehicles for ¥33 million in total in October, is scheduled to join the agreement by the end of March.

Vital for maintaining health

According to a survey by Japan Toilet Labo, a nonprofit organization based in Tokyo, when the Noto earthquake hit, nearly 90% of people needed to go to the toilet within six hours. However, only one of 10 evacuation centers surveyed had temporary toilets completed within three days, the NPO said.

It is essential to build toilets quickly in the event of a disaster.

Water outages continued in many areas after the earthquake. As a result, toilets at evacuations centers would not flush, which made it very difficult for people to use them.

“Some people ended up cutting back on their fluid intake in an attempt to reduce frequency of going to the toilet, which caused them to suffer from constipation,” said Atsushi Kato, representative director of the NPO, who visited the disaster area.

Reducing water intake increases the risk of myocardial infarction and, in a worst-case scenario, is believed to increase the risk of disaster-related death.

In the two months immediately following the Noto earthquake, around 15 toilet vehicles were sent to affected areas where roads were still intact. The vehicles gained popularity because they were clean and comfortable, with people happily using the toilet comfortably.

Even in normal times

With the cost for acquiring the vehicles being so high, one task is to find ways to utilize them during normal times. Many municipalities are using the vehicles in disaster preparedness awareness events for residents and other events.

In September, a multipurpose toilet vehicle was acquired by the Anan city government in Tokushima Prefecture. The vehicle can also be used to transport people and supplies even during normal times.

Nevertheless, toilet vehicles alone will not be enough to meet the toilet needs of evacuees.

“It’s important to gradually put into place a system where toilet vehicles can be used in combination with temporary and portable toilets,” Kato said.