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It was late thursday evening when I wandered into one of those corner 
restaurants just next to Ueno railwaystation. I was about to meet my female 
associate. Once I went to the restroom and sat down in my thoughts, it 
struck me to hear womens voices in the washroom. "Gosh", I thought, I must 
have mistaken this to womens restroom. But no, I was in the right place. The 
toilet they had, was a unisex toilet. Just like in planes. The room where 
you can wash your hands, was shared, while women and men had their separate 
toilet rooms. The women cheerfully fixed their makeups and brushed their 
hair, when men checked their ties. Nothing strange there, as if it had been 
all natural for centuries! But what's behind all this?