The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry compiled a final proposal for the pictograms to indicate Western and Japanese toilets and bidet toilets.

Ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, the ministry will display the pictograms on doors of toilets and signs so that foreigners can instantly understand whether the toilet is a Western or Japanese one.

It plans to decide on the pictograms based on the Japanese Industrial Standards as early as February, and display them at public facilities.

Since foreign tourists are not accustomed to using Japanese toilets, they often look for Western ones. In addition, many foreign tourists opt for bidet toilets, and the ministry plans to display special pictograms to help foreigners find them.

The ministry is considering creating unified pictograms to show automated external defibrillators (AEDs), nursing rooms and other facilities based on the industrial standards. Displaying such pictograms is not mandatory, but the ministry aims to help foreign tourists by unifying designs.