日本新景点 高速公路服务区的高科技厕所

The kids are hungry, the driver has a headache and everyone has to go to the bathroom. If you’re traveling by car on a holiday weekend, the last thing you want to find at a roadside rest stop is a long line for a toilet.

孩子们饿了，开车的人头痛，所有人都得上卫生间。如果是在周末假期驾车出行，你最不愿在路边的休息区看到的就是等着上厕所的长队。

Companies that run major highway service plazas in Japan go to considerable lengths to ensure you never will, as they compete for the coveted Japan Toilet Award from the transportation ministry.

在争夺交通省颁发的令人梦寐以求的日本厕所奖(Japan Toilet Award)时，日本主要高速服务区的经营公司为确保民众永远不会遇到这种情况而不遗余力。

Nexco Central Nippon Expressway, which runs 200 of the rest stops, promises that patrons should never have to wait more than two minutes to use the lavatory. The company’s award-winning Neopasa Shimizu stop, one of several near Shizuoka City, about 15 miles from Mount Fuji, shows how.

经营着200个服务区的中日本高速公路株式会社(Nexco Central Nippon Expressway)承诺，顾客等待如厕的时间绝不会超过两分钟。公司旗下获得上述奖项的新东名高速道路清水(Neopasa Shimizu)服务区向外界展示了如何做到这一点。该服务区是静冈市附近的几个服务区中的其中一家，距富士山约15英里（约合24公里）。

To keep things moving at Neopasa Shimizu, where 25,000 people may stop on a busy weekend, there are 72 stalls in the ladies’ room, compared with 14 stalls and 32 urinals in the men’s — a ratio meant to combat the longer waits that women often encounter in public facilities.

在繁忙的周末，大概有2.5万人在该服务区停歇。为了让人员流动起来，服务区的女厕设有72个小隔间。而相比之下，男厕只有14个隔间和32个小便池。这样的比例是为了应对女性在公共场所等待如厕的时间通常比男性长这种情况。

Technology is put to work, too. A sensor in each stall detects whether it is in use, and relays that information to a large monitor screen mounted outside the restroom. Small icons even indicate whether the available toilets are the Western sitting style or the traditional Japanese squatting style.

该服务区也使用了科技手段。每个隔间都配备了传感器，它会检测是否有人使用相应的隔间，并将信息传输至安装在厕所外面的大监视屏上。甚至还有小图标显示空着的是西式坐厕，还是传统的日式蹲厕。

Of course, those who find these elaborate status panels too confusing can always just walk up and down the stalls, looking for an unlocked door.

当然，觉得这些精密的使用状态显示板太令人费解的人，随时可以在隔间前来回走动，寻找哪个门没锁上。