We’ve all been there. You’re out on the road and you need a restroom. The sooner, the better. But where to turn off to find one?
Well if you’re in Japan, Toyota can help you out. The automaker has just added an extensive database to its TC Smartphone Navigation app that encompasses some 19,000 publicly accessible restrooms across the country.
The navigation app already tracks your location, so users who select the restroom function will be directed to the nearest location. And because Japan has become hyper-sensitive to the needs of the physically handicapped, the service provides information on wheelchair accessibility as well.
The restrooms are located at highway rest areas, municipal government offices, hotels, museums, and other facilities that offer free access to the public. The system builds on the Restroom Finder feature that was previously incorporated into the T-Connect and Lexus G-Link systems, but only for the Aichi, Gifu, and Mie prefectures. Now it’s more extensive, though, and included in a free application for either iOS or Android – so you don’t even need to be driving a Toyota (or Daihatsu or Lexus) to use it.
Unfortunately for the time being, it’s only available in Japanese and is only useful in Japan, but here’s hoping it extends the service to other countries as well. Because wherever you are, when you gotta go, you gotta go.
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