A traveler’s TikTok is leaving viewers in awe because of a jaw-dropping bathroom setup on a Japanese high-speed rail line that looks more like a futuristic hotel suite than public transit.
In the clip shared by NicksOnTour (@nicksontour), the traveler gives a tour of the Shinkansen’s restroom, complete with automatic sliding doors, two sinks, air conditioning, built-in bidets, designated cleaning wipes, a baby-changing table, and even a suction drain for used paper towels after you’re done drying your hands.
“Where is this technology in the United States?” he asks, echoing what thousands of commenters were thinking.
The video highlights how Japan’s public transportation continues to set the global gold standard — not just in efficiency and cleanliness, but in thoughtful design. While many American travelers are used to cramped, cluttered public restrooms, Japan’s rail bathrooms are spacious, touchless, and accessible, offering passengers comfort and dignity while traveling at speeds of around 200 miles per hour.
This kind of innovation is luxurious for sure, but it’s also sustainable. Japan’s extensive high-speed rail network moves millions of passengers daily while generating far less pollution than short-haul flights. According to the International Energy Agency, trains like the Shinkansen can emit up to 90% fewer carbon emissions per passenger mile than airplanes. That means every trip on the rail instead of air helps cut down on the environmental footprint of travel. Which ultimately means cleaner air for our communities and a slowdown on dangerous global temperature rise, which is only contributing to more extreme weather, in turn, threatening our communities yet again.
TikTok users couldn’t get enough of the video’s futuristic details.
“The things the Japanese do just make sense!” one user said. Another shared, “I live in [the] U.K. and this is normal lol even like the old train have this, the newer ones and ones to London etc have better ones then this.”
Many echoed the creator’s sentiment, saying: “Love this. Just imagining someone waiting outside hearing. ‘THEY GOT A BIDET. BIDET!'”
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