Japan has opened a new front in the war on germs by installing public conveniences in a Tokyo airport with toilet paper for smartphones.
Passengers at Narita international will find, alongside paper for conventional lavatory use, a second smaller roll for cleansing the screens of phones and tablets.
The initiative in Japan comes in response to research which showed that mobile phones often carried more bacteria than toilet seats.
Japanese toilets are justly famous as the cleanest and most hi-tech in the world. One of the most unforgettable experiences of the first-time visitor is an encounter with the “Washlet”, a toilet that cleanses the user with a concentrated jet of water between the cheeks.
Tests by the consumer watchdog Which? three years ago showed hazardous levels of germs on phones that were capable of causing vomiting and diarrhoea. One of the causes of poor hygiene is the habit among many people of taking devices into the lavatory to while away the time. One iPad was found to have 600 units of Staphylococcus aureus, which causes food poisoning.
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A smartphone had 140 units, compared with 20 on a typical office toilet seat, which, unlike typical phones, is regularly cleaned and wiped with anti-bacterial agents.
The initiative is part of wider efforts to improve hospitality for tourists in the run up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.