Japan's Centuries-Old Toilet Damaged In Car Crash By Conservation Worker

The toilet inside the centuries-old Buddhist temple in the western Kyoto region dates back to the 15th century.

A Japanese conservation worker accidentally ploughed his car into the country's oldest toilet, partially destroying it, said officials on Tuesday, reported news agency AFP. 

The toilet inside the centuries-old Buddhist temple, Tofukuji, in the western Kyoto region dates back to the 15th century and has been designated as an important cultural asset.

The accident has caused damage to the original wooden door leading to the site after the 30-year-old driver from the Kyoto Heritage Preservation Association, accidentally backed his car into it, reported AFP.

The car was parked in front of the toilet and the man without realising that the vehicle was still in the reverse gear put the ignition on, hitting straight into the toilet door and damaging it.

"We've been told it's going to require a lot of work to restore," a Kyoto police official said, as reported by AFP.

The accident also caused minor damage to the wall. However, the actual latrines -- two rows of pits -- were intact, said  Norihiko Murata, a Kyoto official in charge of cultural heritage preservation, reported the news agency.

"It is of course disappointing that part of this important cultural property has been damaged like this," Murata added.

According to a CNN report, the doors of the "hyakusecchin" – or "hundred-person toilet" was approximately 600-year-old.

The toilet got its nickname because more than 100 trainee monks used it up until the start of the Meiji era around 1868. 

Closed to the public for over a century, the toilet was named an important cultural property by the Japanese government in 1902, reported CNN.

The temple management is trying to find a way to restore the damaged doors, which measured 2.4 meters tall and 2.8 meters wide.