How Japan’s Oldest Toilet Went Down the Crapper

What do you do when you ruin one of the objects you were meant to preserve? That’s the situation facing one poor worker in Japan who took out what used to be one of Japan’s oldest toilets.

The toilet

A monk once asked Yunmen Wenyan, a 9th century Chinese Chan master, what the nature of the Buddha was. Rather bluntly, Yunmen answered “Dried shit on a stick.”

What this koan, case number 21 in The Gateless Gate (Mumonkan), alludes to, is a tool called a chugi. A chugi is a disposable wooden stick, one that might be compared to a spatula, which was used as one might use toilet paper today.

Paper did exist in East Asia, of course. But for a long time, it was a precious resource. What’s more, reuse of paper, especially paper that had previously been used for bureaucratic or religious reasons, was generally frowned upon even as scrap paper, let alone as toilet paper. Ergo, even until the 20th century in some parts of Japan, people used chugi just as rural Americans might have used corn cobs for similar purposes.

Now, in historic Japanese Buddhist temple architecture, a toilet building– a Tōsu (東司) — is as indispensable a feature as it would be in any modern house of worship. The Tōsu at Tōfuku-ji, a historic temple in southeastern Kyoto which is the head temple of Rinzai Zen’s Tōfuku-ji sect, is Japan’s oldest surviving toilet.

While Tōfuku-ji dates to the 14th century, the current Tōsu dates to the 16th century. The Tōsu is no longer in use for its original purpose today. There are other restrooms on the Tōfuku-ji grounds. But in the Tōsu’s heyday, the waste collected there was sold as nightsoil to neighboring farms, harking back to Yunmen’s koan about chugi.

In an entirely unexpected turn of events, on 17 October, a driving accident damaged the Tōsu. Here is his tale of woe and sorrow.

The Incident

On the morning of October 17th, an employee of the Kyoto Heritage Preservation Association was at Tōfuku-ji for work. He’d parked his Toyota Will VI outside the Tōsu, in the temple parking lot adjoining it on its north-facing side.

At around 9:30 AM local time, he made to depart the temple. Sadly, he did not realize that he had left the car in reverse. Upon his stepping on the accelerator, the Toyota went full tilt, backwards, into the Tōsu, smashing through the door before coming to a stop well inside the structure.

As noted above, this isn’t the only Tōsu. Historically, Tōsu– also called Secchin– were one of the seven structures of a temple compound. It was not simply a privy, but rather, just another space in which the monastic would continue their practice. However, what sets this particular structure apart is that it is one of a handful of surviving Tōsu. Another, measuring seven kan (about 12.6 meters) in length, is at Eihei-ji, a temple in Fukui Prefecture.

According to both Tōfuku-ji temple and the local police station’s report, there were no fatalities or injuries. There was nobody in the Tōsu at the time, and generally, there isn’t, as one requires special permission to be inside at all. The driver himself was likewise, thankfully, uninjured.

However, the structural damage to the late-Muromachi era building is to an extent never before seen. That’s surprising when one considers it survived the Warring States era as well as the periodic fires which were the bane of any Edo period Japanese city. The damage incurred by the runaway Toyota most notably included the outer door shutters, a pillar inside, and a partition.

The Aftermath

Even if the Tōsu is no longer an actively used toilet, it does hold Important Cultural Property status. It is a priceless piece of architectural heritage. Thus, although it’s less than a day following this incident as I write these words, its reconstruction appears to only be a matter of time.

In a comment to media about this incident, Tōfukuji Archival Research Center director Ishikawa Toshio stated “This is an accident of a sort never before seen, though it’s fortunate that there was no personal injury. We’d like to have this restored before the autumn leaves turn, but it might take until the start of the new year.”

The dharma wheel turns ever on. But, thankfully, this Toyota’s wheels no longer turn inside the historic toilet at Tōfuku-ji.

Still, one wonders what pithy words of wisdom Master Yunmen might have had about this incident.

What to read next

Sources

“Kyoto Kobunka Hozon Kyōkai ni tsuite: Goaisatsu.” Kyoto Kobunka Hozon Kyōkai. Accessed 18 October 2022.

“Kyoto Tōfuku-ji, Jūyōbunkazai no toire ni kuruma tsukkomi tobira sonkai. Nihon Saiko ‘Ayamatte Akuseru.’” Kyoto Shinbun, 17 October 2022, Accessed 18 October 2022.

Maritomo. “The “Tōsu” of Tōfukuji: Japan’s Oldest Toilet.” Accessed 17 October 2022.

Nakajima Reiko and Chigira Kotaro. “Kuni Jūbun de genzon saiko no benjo ‘Tosu’ ni kuruma tsukkomi sonkai: Kyoto, Tōfuku-ji.” Mainichi Shinbun,

“‘Nihon Saiko no Toire’ ni kuruma tsukkomi sonkai. Tōfuku-ji no Jūbun.” The Sankei News, 17 October 2022. Accessed 18 October 2022.

“Shichidō Garan.” Kotobank.jp, Accessed 18 October 2022.

The Gateless Barrier: the Wu-Men Kuan (Mumonkan). Translated and with Commentary by Robert Aitken. (New York: North Point Press, 2016), p. 137.

“Tōsu.” Kotobank.jp, Accessed 18 October 2022.

Want more great Japan content? We rely on support from our readers. Become a member starting at just USD $1/month today to get exclusive content, social media shout-outs, and more!