These public toilets in Tokyo's district of Shibuya have transparent glass instead of walls for a real room with a view.

Filmed on October 1 the insides of the building are seen clear as day, not giving a sense of privacy.

But when a patron enters the lavatory "smart glass" is activated obscuring the user by turning opaque, from liquid crystals in the material positioning randomly.

Japanese toilet with "smart glass" at night.
Toilet with «Smart glass»

Public toilets in Japan are normally clean and free to use. Shibuya – a district in Tokyo – is redesigning some of his toilet as a part of the hospitality culture. Famous architects are in the designing team.

Shigeru Ban (born 1957 in Tokyo and Pritzker prize winner) was using for his idea of a new public restroom the latest glass technology – “smart glass”. The exterior glass of the restroom turns opaque when locked, so users can easily check if the restroom is free or not and also the cleanliness from the outside.
The glass has liquid crystal molecules in it. When the power is off, the liquid cystal molecules are randomly oriented and the glass looks “milky”. If the power is on, the glass is transparent and the light passes through. The look of the restroom door will turn off and on the power of the “smart glass”.
The two colorful toilets - designed by Ban - are located in two small parks. As nearly all Japanese toilets also the new public restrooms have “washlet” (registered trademark of TOTO (Japanese toilet maker)) - cleansing toilet seats with water spray feature for genital and anal cleansing.