Cho O Shrine

Cho O Shrine

Kyoto, Japan

Reviewed May 24th, 2004

Located just west of the Imperial Palace in central Kyoto is a small warthog-themed shrine. It was a pleasant surprise to find they had a restroom. Kyoto has hundreds of miscellaneous shrines speckled throughout the city and most are not lucky enough to be equipped with plumbing. But near the southeast corner is a little separate doorless building split into men's and women's facilities.

The men's side only contained two urinals and a sink, but everything was very clean. Strange brightly colored air fresheners that wouldn't look out of place hanging next to baby rattles and teething toys at a department store hung from the urinals. The women's side consisted of two toilet stalls and a sink. Not more than 20 feet away from the restroom is an impressive collection of warthog paraphenalia - everything from stuffed animals and cartoon posters to stone artifacts. It may have been nice to incorporate some sort of warthog theme into the bathroom as well.

RESTROOM RATING: 7
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